100 Years Too Late
by Team Alpha Wolf Squadron
Summary: An AU exploring what would have happened if Aang had been frozen at 16 and thawed out a hundred years to that day. (Will be Zukaang)
1. Chapter 1

"Sometimes I wonder what they're all thinking. Back home," Aang confessed. The fire maintained a steady heat in front of him, as it always seemed to do when this particular visitor came to him. "I just left. Too cowardly to even see what all this 'training' they want me to do is about." He pulled his knees up to his chest, resting his head on them. "I wanna go home so bad but I know when I do things are gonna change and I don't want that."

The Blue Spirit said nothing, as he usually did. The mask he wore stayed still too. No judgement, no emotion, just there, listening to Aang as he complained about whatever it was this week that had him upset.

He sighed, stretching his legs out in front of him. They were starting to ache again, he didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing. Last time they'd ached it was because he'd gotten something lodged in one of them. But, the time before that he'd grown a few inches so, really, who knew.

Aang for one would prefer the growing. The Blue Spirit was still taller than him and when he'd envisioned himself at seventeen Aang had always imagined he would be tall. Or, at least, taller than the man in front of him who wasn't all that tall to begin with.

Then again, Aang didn't know old the Blue Spirit was. Sure, he sounded older than a kid, but considering he was of a height with Aang last year it begged the question how old someone got before they stopped growing.

"Would you go back?" Aang asked.

There was silence, Aang not really expecting an answer anyway. Then the Blue Spirit's head started to shake slowly.

It could mean anything, that shake. It could be no to Aang going home. To forgetting about this year of finding himself before trudging back with his tail between his legs to start his Avatar training. Or it could be about himself. Aang knew nothing about this guy, it wasn't so far fetched to think he wasn't the only one here, by this fire, by choice. The guy was alone. He had swords. He wore a mask. He seemed to enjoy keeping a low profile when he wasn't helping Aang escape this wide world gone mad. Who knew what life this guy had lived and what was keeping him tethered to Aang like a shadow.

"A few more months then," Aang said, the weight growing heavier on his chest as he lay down. Maybe they'd go to Ba Sing Se. He had a friend there that was always up for an adventure, and Aang trusted him enough not to rat him out to the monks. Or maybe to one of the poles and go penguin sledding.

Somehow Aang didn't think the Blue Spirit would like the cold very much, but both of them needed to enjoy this freedom they had while they had it. The guy needed to smile. To laugh, and there was no better place to do it than on the back of a penguin hurtling towards the sea.

Maybe even just a swim. Or a bath which would be more accurate. One for Appa too. So yeah, a bath, a swim, penguin sledding then Ba Sing Se for a few weeks of sneaking around. Fun.

He woke in the morning to find the Blue Spirit sharpening one of his swords. It was a familiar sight, one Aang knew was intentional. The guy woke with the sun, and for someone who had been trained to do so since birth he knew how hard that was. Yet somehow the Blue Spirit did, Aang knew because he'd woke more than once to breakfast being turned on a spit over their fire. Or, the Blue Spirit's breakfast, Aang wasn't so fond of meat, especially meat that still looked like the poor fuzzy thing it had been when it had been living.

So the guy woke early, yet whenever Aang was awake he'd be sharpening his swords. The ones he actually sharpened properly when they were safe in the air on Appa's back. He was doing something else in those few hours before Aang woke, he just knew it. The question was what.

Aang himself could think of a few things, but none having the guy needing to be awake hours before Aang.

He'd find out one day. For now he grabbed the bread he'd bought at the last village they'd been to, before they got run out of it that was, and set about foraging for berries.

The stream, when he flew them to it, was a good idea. Definitely a good idea, "Urgh!" he could feel his nose trying to retreat into his face. Just hopping off Appa gave him a whiff of something that should never be smelled by anyone ever. "Okay buddy, saddle off then straight under the falls. You too Blue, don't take this the wrong way but I think we all need a bath day."

Blue, naturally, had nothing to say to that, just stood there a few moments before storming off somewhere out of sight. Aang didn't worry, the guy was probably just finding somewhere private to strip off. He wouldn't actually leave Aang over something so trivial as a bath. At least, Aang didn't think he would.

"He'll be back soon," Aang told himself, turning to his task. Pinching his nose he edged around Appa until he could get to the saddle straps, taking one deep breath through his mouth before working as fast as he could to undo it.

Appa stomped his feet the whole time, a little bit in excitement, mostly because he knew that if Aang so much as exhaled he'd be getting an even stronger whiff of whatever Appa had been rolling in. He loved Appa like nothing else, but the pair of them knew he liked to get his kicks in when he could. His favourite was licking Blue whenever the guy ventured too close. Which was often. Hence the bath since Appa's breath wasn't exactly fresh either.

"Okay buddy," Aang said, letting the saddle slide loose. With one large gust he stripped himself and started running to the water, "Let's have fun!"

The water was pleasantly cool in the early sun. Just the right temperature for the cloying air that surrounded the Earth Kingdom. After thoroughly scrubbing himself Aang let himself enjoy it, floating on his back as the water edged up and down across his skin.

Appa announced himself before floating over, his loud snort lathering Aang in something unpleasant as his nose came to sniff at his newly washed Airbender. "You bored buddy?"

Appa let out another noise.

Taking that as a yes Aang started their usual game of tag, chasing Appa around the lake until Appa was, once more, retreating to the waterfall for another dunk.

Rustling behind him told him he hadn't been abandoned. Blue was back but instead of his usual black clothes there was nothing but his mask. It started begging questions again about how old this guy was. He looked around Aang's age, and Aang was kind of praying for that as his eyes lingered on arms that had definitely been doing their sword drills.

"You coming in?" Aang asked. A rather stupid question for someone that doesn't actually talk but sometimes the quiet started to get to him.

Blue set his clothes next to Aang's, seeming to have a hard time doing so, but nevertheless that was where they stayed. With a few glances back, Blue was toeing the water, foot rising like he was going to jump then thinking better of it and sliding in, the rest of him following slowly.

It was the mask, Aang realised. He didn't want it to slip off underwater if he jumped. Which it might have, and without that dark hood the guy wore Aang would certainly see his face. Which wasn't a bad thing. But the guy was wearing a mask for a reason, and Aang wasn't going to question it.

He waited until Blue was a little closer before asking, "Wanna help me chase Appa around?" Waiting a little longer as Blue came within arms reach before grabbing the guys hand and towing him over to where Appa was trying to catch the waterfall spray, "Come on, he needs a little fun." More like Blue did, but putting the blame on Appa for the guy having fun had worked in the past and Aang watched it work now as, with only a few more coaxes, he got Blue jumping about in no time.

He moved like a bender. Aang had always thought so, and thought so even more now. Blue moved in a way that showed he'd been paying attention to Aang. How he moved, how he fought. The guy had been practicing it, somehow, and adapting it enough that it wasn't overly obvious, if Aang didn't know what he was looking for he wouldn't have even guessed it.

That natural flexibility he'd shown the first time he'd sprung Aang was even more honed now he'd taught himself to be light on his feet. It was honestly impressive and made Aang wonder if the guy had any benders in his family.

Regardless, the prospect of being allowed to run freely had them all in good spirits as they dried out on the bank. The grin wouldn't stay off Aang's face as he fetched their last provisions and handed them out to Blue and Appa.

"I say we hit a village tonight, do a little hustling and then make for Ba Sing Se tomorrow. I have friends there, it'll be fun."

That didn't seem to be a good idea according to Blue. If he wasn't so committed to keeping quiet Aang thought he would have been screaming at that being a bad idea. As it was, he did his own approximation of that by shaking his head vigorously.

The question of why only really had one answer. That being Blue had probably run away from Ba Sing Se. The urge to go and see why was stronger now, but, Aang wanted fun not a fight so as much as it pained him to do so he let it go and suggested penguin sledding instead.

Blue didn't like that idea either, but unlike the flat out no for Ba Sing Se he merely fell back to his slouch with a well worn sigh. He didn't want to, but he wouldn't stop Aang from taking them there and probably hopping on a penguin himself when Aang forced him to.

"It's gonna be great," Aang promised.

They relaxed by the lake a while longer. Then when they couldn't put off hustling any longer Aang saddled Appa back up. Blue disappeared as Aang finished with the last strap, his clothes tucked tightly underneath his arms. His pale, human, arms.

"I know it's strange but half of me expected him to be green or something." But Blue wasn't, and what's more Aang now knew he had dark hair as well. Dark hair, good arms and definition that spoke of hard training. The only problem was how thin he was. Aang half hoped it was a puberty thing, he himself was like a beanpole on the best of days. But he'd seen Blue when they first met, how his clothes hung off him. A little fatter he might be now, but neither of them had enough money or were good enough at foraging to eat what they needed every day. If they went to Ba Sing Se…

But they weren't, and hey, maybe the water tribes would be more welcoming than the Earth Kingdom.

Amusing the next village they came across was, as always, easy. It was practically part of their routine now that they were met with jovial faces and many coins. The few simple sleight of hand tricks could be excused away as just that to these people, nothing more nothing less. Surprisingly, it was only when they found out Aang was a bender that things went downhill. Something he was still trying to muster out. Had the air nomads done something while he was away travelling? Regardless, as the sun set Aang had a few more coins in his purse. As did Blue. enough for both of them to grab whatever was left at the market before high tailing it back to Appa.

They had enough supplies to see them to the start of the polar region. There would be another village between here and there however, so Aang wasn't too worried, and it wasn't like either of them liked to gorge themselves. Much.

Aang alternated their travelling days between flying Appa and having one sided conversations in the saddle with Blue. The usual.

The conversations weren't always one sided. Sometimes Blue would give Aang a nod or shake or, when Aang had said something that may have tread on Blue's nerves he'd get that careful breath. The slow inhale and exhale that spoke of taming a temper Aang knew Blue had. If Blue hadn't kept up this vow of silence, or whatever it was, Aang bet he would be getting tirade after tirade the number of times Blue breathed carefully in one day. It wasn't even what Aang had said, most of the time, just Blue's frustration with, well, everything.

He didn't seem a very happy guy.

The air grew frigid as they travelled farther south. More often than not Appa had two people curled into his furry feet when it came time to land. Not a waterbender then, Aang decided. He himself wasn't feeling too cold. He didn't know whether it was down to living in an airy temple in the mountains or his whole Avatar-ness, and at this point was a little afraid to dwell on it.

When they landed the second week on their adventure Aang dared to toe his boots off, letting dewy grass wrap around his toes. "Best make the best of it," Aang said to both Blue and Appa, "This'll be the last patch of earth we'll see for some time."

Blue didn't appear all too happy about that, attaching his swords to his back with a snappiness that only spoke of a bad mood. Appa on the other hand didn't really care. Finding a nice place to sit he let out one large yawn that told Aang to wake him when it was morning.

"Okay," he clapped his hands together, "Plan of action. You're going to need warmer clothes," he told Blue since there was no way he was going to listen to the guys teeth chatter while they were trying to have fun. "Then we need food, water skins and something for Appa. Ooh, and if we find one, I really need some new cloth to fix the saddle." It was a bit worn in places. Well loved, Aang thought, but, it would start deteriorating if they didn't fix it at some point.

With no complaints from Blue, they gathered together the last of their money, wrapped Aang's tattoos and started towards the village.

Before they got to the lip Blue took off in his own direction. Sometimes Aang wished the guy would actually stay by his side when they went to towns together, but Aang supposed a guy in a mask would garner more suspicion when he was with someone else, and if there was one thing they didn't need here, it was suspicion.

Checking his coin purse a few more times, Aang prayed no one recognised his not even entirely hidden clothes and tried to barter in the market.

Luck was on his side as no one recognised him. No shouts, no calls for soldiers, they'd either forgotten what Aang looked like or his disguise was really that good. Aang was betting the former, it had been a year, after all, since he'd been here. More than enough time for his face to be forgotten in the minds that lived here.

Which was nice. It meant he got back to Appa without any trouble. It also meant he didn't have to work out somewhere else to sleep in case the villagers followed him back. Like last time.

He had a fire going and Appa fed by the time Blue returned, his usual light clothes switched out for a furred hood and thicker boots. "You er, got clothes," they probably should have coordinated this a bit better. "That's good. I er, may have also got you some. Don't know if they'll fit but, I'll have them if you don't want them." He tossed another fur hood Blue's way, alongside some thicker pants that would definitely stop certain things from freezing off.

Blue fingered them for a minute before carefully folding them into his bag.

"I also got you something else," he handed over a plate of sweets. "You know, for our anniversary," he joked.

Blue just stared back at him from that mask, Aang not really sure what was going on under there.

"You know, since, this is where we met and you saved me and… you were stealing sweets, remember." Aang certainly did. He'd been suspended from a roof when he spotted a masked figure swiping at least twenty sweet treats into his bag. He'd thought it in poor taste, but forgave the Blue Spirit when, minutes after as one of the few benders in the village tried to wrap him in an earth prison, saved, only by the Blue Spirit distracting the bender long enough for Aang to get away.

The start of a glorious friendship Aang thought. He still wasn't too sure whether Blue agreed with him or not. But Blue took the treats, which was a good sign, and turned away as he usually did to eat them.

Aang bedded down with a few for himself, relaxing into Appa's fur and thinking of all the penguins they'd soon be sledding on.


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of their trip there wasn't all that memorable. They flew, they set down on a patch of ice, they slept and then they got up and flew some more. The only thing Aang did find interesting in all those days of pure boredom was that he got to hear Blue talk. He was asleep, but Aang counted it.

He seemed to always be asleep when it happened. Blue had bad dreams that left him shivering into his bed roll. Even when they were in the Earth kingdom, with the heat leaving them sticky even on an evening Aang would look over sometimes and see Blue shaking from his nightmares. Mumbling too, always mumbling. Just what, Aang didn't know, and when it did happen he spent more time listening to the timbre of Blue's voice rather than the actual words.

This time was no different.

"Here," Aang grabbed the second hood, "See if you can fit it over that one."

Blue tried almost desperately, limbs shivering all the while. Someone hadn't been in the cold before. Not this cold anyway. Aang knew so because Blue spent most of their ride hanging over the edge of Appa's saddle, watching the endless icebergs pass them by. At least when he wasn't curled up at Aang's back trying to leech whatever warmth Aang had off him.

When they finally touched down Aang stretched his legs so far he swore he heard something pop. Not that it mattered. It didn't hurt, therefore he didn't have to worry. What he did have to worry about was coaxing Blue down from Appa so they could wrestle them some penguins he'd spotted not far ahead.

"Come on," Aang whined, "A few hours. Once you're having fun you won't even feel the cold."

Blue wasn't even looking at him, his hood firmly over his head and head between his knees.

"I'll just come up and get you," Aang warned. "I mean it. You know I do." Like he'd said, this wasn't his first go at getting Blue to have fun.

Sure enough, after a few more threats, Blue uncurled himself with an agitated start and slid down Appa's back. He wouldn't stop jumping around when he reached the ice, and Aang just knew Blue was glaring at him from behind his mask.

Nevertheless, "Come on," he grabbed Blue's hand and dragged him over to where the penguins were hiding.

Aang wasn't a small kid anymore, a prospect that he hadn't thought of being a problem until he was sizing up penguins. With his small growth spurt on the way here he'd have to either grab two penguins, or that rather fat one that was squealing at the others.

"Got your penguin?" Aang hissed.

He felt another glare directed at him.

Ignoring it, Aang nodded, "Good. On the count of three, leap out and grab it. Don't be too gentle or they'll wriggle away. And remember, have fun."

He counted down, leaping out with a cry and startling the penguins into a run. Grabbing the tubby one, the two of them started sliding down mounds of ice until all Aang could feel was the wind in his face and laughter in his throat.

When the penguin finally managed to wriggle away Aang looked back to see Blue still chasing his own around, the guy obviously having some doubts as to whether this was a good idea or not. His skill wasn't in question here, more his willingness to jump on a penguin as Aang watched Blue's hands curl in on themselves five times just as he was going to grab for it.

"Just do it," Aang shouted. "It won't hurt them."

He didn't help, letting Blue fight his own battle. Instead he went in search of another chubby penguin to ride on.

They were there until well into the afternoon. Or was it morning? He didn't know, the sun set at weird times here. All he did know was that the sun was going down and Appa would need feeding. So after watching Blue finally launch himself at a penguin and get a good slide in, he led the two of them back the way they came, maybe using his glider at times because, well, it had been a year since he'd been here last.

Appa was trying to lick his own saddle when they got back, the bales of hay they had stashed there just shy of falling off and giving Appa a true feast and Aang hours of consoling a sore tummied sky bison. With Blue building a fire Aang told Appa just why he couldn't have every single provision they'd bought for him, knowing the bison was ignoring him.

"It's like talking to a brick wall sometimes," Aang sighed, sitting next to Blue. "Wish I could waterbend. Put all those bales in an ice cage. Then again," he thought, "Appa would probably break it down, he can be quite determined when there's food on the go. We may have to take shifts tonight."

Blue shook his head at Aang. A fond shake, Aang able to tell the difference these days.

"You're right," Aang decided, filling in Blue's conversation in his head, "He's going to overpower us one way or another. No point losing sleep about it."

Another fond shake.

They shared out their own provisions, Aang telling Blue it was good fishing up here. He was sure, with a bit of creativity, Blue would be able to continue his life of meat eating quite easily. Aang on the other hand would just have to ration himself out until he had to look around for a water tribe to beg scraps off.

They bedded down in the saddle again, Aang shoving most the blankets, and all the socks they had, to Blue. Sleeping on Appa without the saddle was always a risk. Appa could be restless at times, and it was better to try their luck on his back than his head so Aang sacrificed his usual fluffy bed and curled up next to Blue. It certainly calmed some of the shivers down, and since this wasn't the first time they'd bunked close together Aang heard Blue snoring lightly not long afterwards.

Sleep was easy after a day of chasing penguins. Waking was not. Namely because it wasn't even morning. Instead of waking to Blue sharpening his swords Aang found himself quickly bouncing, sliding to the back of the saddle as Appa roared and reared.

Blue was already at Appa's head, sword out and pointed at someone. Climbing his own way up, Aang came face to face with a horde of angry tribesmen.

"We didn't even do anything," Aang muttered, carefully reaching for Appa's reigns. It was like the whole world had gone mad as soon as they saw a- "Ow!" He shook his hand out, another rock flying far too close to Aang's head.

"Don't even think about it," one of the men called. Aang couldn't get a good look at him, his head covered by a wolf mount. "Now state your name and business or get lost."

Aang thought over that sentence again, glancing at Blue to see him too with his sword a tad lower. "But if I can't reach for the reigns how am I supposed to get lost?" Aang asked.

The wolf guy was silent for a beat then, "Well, er-"

Aang wasn't sure this guy had all that much experience intimidating people.

"You know what, don't be smart. Just tell me your names and business."

Aang looked over the tribesmen more clearly. From up high it was harder to tell but Aang gathered after a few moments just why the Blue Spirit wasn't looking all that intimidated anymore. They were kids. The youngest had to be around seven, his slingshot ready to be fired, and Aang had no doubt he was a good shot but, kids in charge of security? Where were the adults? The only one he could see being even close to an adult was the wolf guy, and, looking at little closer even he didn't seem all that much older than Aang.

"My name's Aang," he decided, giving them a little wave, "Don't know this ones real name but we're here for penguin sledding."

Whatever the wolf guy had been expecting it wasn't that, the silence coming between them once more before a quiet, incredulous, "What?" echoed up to Aang's ears.

"Penguin sledding," he repeated. "You know, you find a penguin, you grab it, you sled. It's fun."

"Are you-" The guy struggled with, "Are you messing with me right now?"

"Don't know about you," Aang said, "But the penguins are fun to mess with," he turned to the kids, "Do you think you could lower those slingshots a little, you're spooking Appa." He gave the guy a little pat. They were kids. Kids with good aim, but still kids.

Some of them did, and as soon as they did the wolf guy was barking, "What are you doing? Don't listen to him, he's an enemy. Keep them up! Did you learn nothing in training?"

They raised their weapons again, one of the younger ones asking anyway, "We're not really gonna kill the fluffy thing are we?"

"If we have to," The wolf guy snapped.

The kid dropped his weapon, "I don't want to kill it."

"What-" Wolf guy seemed to be having a tantrum.

Aang crawled a little further onto Appa's head, "Hey er, is this gonna take much longer? It's just, we're really tired and I wanna be up early so we can grab more penguins."

"Are you really here to penguin sled?" One of the other kids asked.

"What is penguin sledding?"

"Why does your furry thing have an arrow on its head?"

Aang hopped down, just feeling in his bones he wasn't going to get anymore sleep tonight. "His name is Appa and he's a sky bison. His arrows are part of his colouring. And if you guys like, I can show you how to penguin sled tomorrow. So long as your fearless leader doesn't have us executed."

He got more questions, hearing over the excitement as wolf guy grew more and more frustrated until he was practically screaming, "Enough. They're enemies. For crying out loud don't make friends with him!"

Aang looked them over again. Their worn clothes, their mocked up weapons. Taking a risk he held his wrists out in front of him, "Would it make you feel better to take us prisoner? I swear, we're not here to hurt you."

Wolf guy didn't seem to like things not going his way as it took one of the kids nudging him in the side before he shook himself out of whatever daze he was in. "Fine." He dug around in his pack before tying Aang's hands with rope so thin it was practically thread. "Tell your friend to come down too."

Aang was tempted to tell wolf guy that probably wasn't the best idea. But, surprisingly, Blue hopped down without Aang having to say a word. He turned his nose up at the ropes but handed over his swords, which was a good enough compromise when Aang told wolf guy he wasn't going to get anything better.

"He's a bit cold too," Aang finished up with.

Wolf guy huffed, hands twisting on the rope before snapping, "Fine. But if you try anything," he warned, right up in Blue's face. "And take off the damn mask won't you."

Blue didn't move an inch. "He er, likes to keep it on," Aang said.

"Well I say take it off," Wolf guy said. "If you have nothing to hide then why keep it on?"

Which was a fair point but, "He's cold," Aang tried again.

"I don't care if he's cold," Wolf guy snapped, "Take it off."

There was a bit of a standoff, wolf guy still eerily close to Blue. Even without his helm Aang bet he was taller than Blue, but out of the two of them, Aang thought Blue would win even without his swords.

"Take. It. Off."

"We're already your prisoners, just let him keep it on," Aang said. The whole reason he had 'surrendered' in the first place was so no one would get hurt.

"Take it off now!" Echoed around them and still Blue didn't move. It was a miracle wolf guy hadn't tried reaching for it. Then they really would have to make a quick escape on Appa.

"Why is it so important to you?" Aang snapped.

"Because I want to know who I'm bringing home now take it off!"

Blue's fingers twitched, Aang inching onto the balls of his feet, ready to take off. But, to his surprise, instead of punching the guy, Blue's hands grabbed the edge of his mask.

It came up and off, Blue handing it over with shaking hands to wolf guy. Aang couldn't get a good look, cursing the late hour they'd been ambushed. In the pale light of the moon all Aang could see were shadows and a hood that was being pulled to cover Blue's ears. "Happy?" Blue asked, Aang's stomach twisting as actual legible words came out of Blue's mouth.

"Don't know yet," wolf guy said, backing away, eyes still on Blue until he was among his fellow tribesmen. "Three of you take the back, make sure they don't run for it." And off they marched.

Aang itched to race forward, to stand in front of Blue and see his face. But Blue hadn't wanted him to know what he looked like and, as much as he wanted to, taking a look now he was unmasked didn't seem right. His hood was up, if he wanted to show Aang later then he would, but for now, Aang let the matter drop and focused on answering all the questions about penguin sledding that were sent his way.

He wondered why, after all the danger they'd been in, why it was guy in the middle of nowhere that got Blue to unmask. Then they reached wolf guy's tribe and in seconds Aang read into what Blue must have. Wolf guy had said he was bringing them home. Home could mean anything. It could mean home with a dungeon that they'd put Aang and Blue in. Home that was some sort of prison these kids parents were running. Or, in actuality, it could mean home. A small village where the houses were barely standing and children watched from their mothers skirts as they were walked past the little lanterns they had.

Wolf guy had brought them to his home, and of course he would want to know what kind of men he was leading to it.

They were led inside one of those houses, Aang calling back, "We're gonna be fine," so Appa wouldn't worry.

The insides were certainly better than the outsides Aang decided as wolf guy ordered them to one of the far corners. He tied Aang to a block of ice that looked like it could be knocked over with a flick. As for Blue, Aang saw him fingering the rope by his side again, Blue giving one of his long sighs before holding his gloved wrists out. "Keep the gloves on won't you," Blue muttered, Aang marvelling, yet again, that he was speaking.

Must be the mask, Aang figured. Without it, what use was there to keep his voice hidden? Aang already knew who he was. Or, at least what he looked like, and boy did Aang look. With Blue's rope tied on top of Aang's, the two of them were sort of mushed against each other, Aang drinking in whatever he could see in the small lantern wolf guy made sure was on them as he called for his Gran Gran.

Dark hair, just like Aang had seen at the lake. Pale skin, and eyes that seemed to shine like fire. Although, that could just be the light from the lantern. Whatever colour they were they suited him, and just like Aang suspected there had indeed been a reason Blue wore a mask. Aang had always figured some kind of deformity or something distinctive enough that should he be seen by the right people they'd know who he was. He hadn't banked on a scar, a painful looking one at that, but it was nice to know at least some of the charade Blue had kept up this past year wasn't just because he wanted to look cool.

"Stop looking at it," Blue sighed, head hitting the wall behind him.

He couldn't keep the grin off his face as he asked "Looking at what?" Blue was talking to him. They were having an actual conversation.

"You know what," Blue bit out.

"Your eyes?" Aang guessed, pretending vehemently he hadn't actually been thinking about how long someone would have had to hold Blue's face to a fire for it to scar like that. "Cause I can't quite tell if they're amber or gold."

Blue glared at him, his left eye so scarred it barely opened. It was only for a moment, then Blue's head was hitting the wall again another tired sigh escaping his mouth.

Aang swallowed the question that was in his mouth. Instead saying, "Thank you." It needed to be said. "You didn't have to. I was ready to run. So, thank you for not starting a fight."

"They're kids," Blue muttered, a quiet sadness in his tone. Like he knew something Aang didn't.

"So are we, kind of."

He didn't really know what to say after that. Having Blue talk back to him was leaving him blank. Usually he just rattled empty conversations between them, but now Blue might reply, might kick up a fuss, he wasn't too sure what was allowed. The topics Aang did want to broach weren't exactly easy ones either. Most of them consisted of the questions he'd been curious about this past year. Why Blue had been in the Earth village. Why he had a mask. How did he gain a reputation big enough to garner the name Blue Spirit? What his name was… that last one would be easy to ask, but, again, he'd taken the mask off for the Water Tribe, not for Aang.

Letting his own head fall back, he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

"It's not that I didn't trust you," whispered over to him.

He peeked an eye open, seeing Blue look back at him, that gold eye barely seen under all the scarring. He gave Blue a short grin, "I know." Besides, there were things he hadn't told Blue about. It was why they worked so well. No questions, no uncomfortable secrets. Just two guys on a flying bison trying to enjoy what little freedom was available to them.

He tilted his head, the ice not all that forgiving on his bald skin. Even with the mask Aang would have been careful touching Blue, so stayed ready to jerk back onto the wall as he gently lay his head down onto Blue's shoulder. When Blue did nothing but tilt his own, the furry edge of his hood tickling Aang's nose, he let himself relax a little.

In the open silence Aang realised there was one question he'd been wanting to ask. One that wouldn't seem all that odd or awkward even tied up like this. "How old are you?"

He could feel Blue's lips purse now the mask was gone, then, "Seven- no, eighteen. I'm eighteen now. Huh."

"Eighteen." A year older. That made him feel a whole lot better. There was nothing worse than thinking he might have popped a stiffy next to kid. Those close quarters might have been for survival, but even Aang couldn't tell his body that when he was asleep. "We'll have to celebrate your birthday. And mine," it had already long flew by, but Aang hadn't wanted to bring it up and make things awkward. They'd celebrated Appa's birthday, but that was all, really. "We'll get you a nice fat penguin tomorrow."

"Urgh," Blue groaned, head abandoning Aang's for the wall.

"You had fun, admit it," he knew Blue had. He'd heard the short bark of laughter as Blue had almost crashed into a snow drift.

Blue didn't admit it, but he didn't argue it either, which Aang had come to know as Blue just as well admitting it.

They sat there for a while, the lantern sizzling down until the shadows lengthened and Aang could only see what was immediately in front of him. His ears still worked however, so he heard when wolf guy returned. He didn't say anything to them, just sat in front of them and watched. The last thing Aang knew before sleep took him once more was that Appa was safe, wolf guy wasn't going to hurt them and Blue wasn't as ugly as Aang had always thought.


	3. Chapter 3

There was a crowd assembled when he woke. His head was still on Blue's shoulder, and he was pretty sure the ice path leading down Blue's hood was from Aang's drool. No one commented on it however, most of them seeming to have something more interesting to focus on. Namely the top of Aang's head.

"They're er, tattoos," he shrugged.

"They're the same as the bison's," one of the kids said, Aang surprised to hear it being one of the kids from last night. In the cold light of day he looked so much younger. Too young to be holding a sword that was chipped and worn in his hands.

"Yeah," he held off from explaining they were part of a whole bending ritual. They'd been courteous to them so far, and from the reaction in the earth kingdom Aang didn't want to chance the water tribe turning on them too just because they learned he was an airbender. "So, who's your chief?"

A flurry of hands pointed towards a guy Aang's age. His back was to the crowd and to Aang, the guy busy having quite a heated argument with a girl not much younger than him. Girlfriend? Sister? He couldn't quite tell from this angle.

The argument went on long enough for the girl to notice the hands pointing at them. "They're awake," she hissed, the guy finally turning around.

He must have been the one from last night, no doubt about it. Namely because he was the oldest guy in the room and, as far as Aang saw last night, there weren't any male adults in this village.

Also because he had one of Blue's swords strapped to his side.

"Well well, finally awake huh?" Wolf guy strode to the front of the crowd.

"Didn't realise we had to get up for something," Came from beside Aang, Blue finally shifting.

"Well, you didn't but," Wolf guy floundered, a common thing Aang was guessing before he gathered himself again. "Just tell us what you're really doing here would you."

"Penguin sledding," Blue grit out.

Wolf guy gave Blue a dark look, "See, you've said that before, but I just don't believe you. Who comes out here just to go penguin sledding? And who," he pointed to the sword strapped to his side, "Brings weapons with them if they're not here to harm us?"

"Someone who's used to a less than kind welcome."

There was a stare off again, Aang letting it go on for a few minutes before pointing out, "I don't have any weapons."

Another few seconds of glaring and Wolf guy straightened back up, "Fine. Say I believe you. Say I believe you're not here to scout us out or send off a signal to the fire navy. How exactly did you get here? I don't see a boat, we scouted the water around you for hours so unless you've got it hidden in an iceberg, I don't see any other explanation but Fire Nation spies."

"Spies?" Aang asked, why would the Fire Nation have spies? Why would they have spies here?

"Spies," Blue huffed, hands jerking in his lap before they roughly yanked his hood down, "Does it look like I'm a spy?"

There was a flinch, and even Aang had to agree the scar was uglier in the light of day. He could practically see where the fire had stripped off Blue's flesh. Not a wound someone got accidentally. Someone had wanted Blue to suffer, and they'd most certainly used firebending to do so.

Wolf guy's mouth floundered a little more before, "I… suppose not," slipped out.

"We got here on Appa," Aang said, feeling Blue's shoulders get more and more tense under the scrutiny. "He's a flying bison."

"See," Wolf guy said, "You keep saying 'flying' bison but, that thing's like ten feet tall and five hundred pounds, there's no way he could even jump nevermind fly."

"He's special?" Aang shrugged.

Wolf guy squinted, probably going to interrogate them more if it weren't for, definitely his sister, marching in front of him, "That's it, they've answered your questions, you have your answers now untie them and let's get them something to eat."

There was another brief, explosive argument between the siblings before Katara's demands were met. Untied, and with a bowl of some kind of soup Aang wasn't entirely sure was vegetarian they were given a much warmer welcome than the one they had last night.

Sokka was sent off after another fight. From his seat Aang could hear Sokka drilling the boys he called a guard.

With his hood pulled back up, Blue was still looking as uncomfortable as one person who wore a mask for year could get. Aang kicked him gently in the shin, "You okay? I'm sure they'll give you your mask back before we leave."

Blue shoved another spoon in his mouth, "They'd better," he muttered.

"Hey, at least we're being fed," Aang tried again.

Blue hummed through another mouthful. "You know they still think we're spies right?"

Aang felt his brow furrow, "But, we're not. 'Sides, they untied us."

The only brow Blue had left quirked under his hood, those gold eyes demanding Aang not be so naive. "It's a new tactic, you've got to know this. They're gonna be nice, they're gonna try and be our friends, and when we let our guards down they'll try and ply our secrets from us."

"But… we have no secrets." Aang certainly didn't. Well, none that weren't true or common knowledge in some sense. Blue on the other hand, well, he certainly had some secrets but, "I mean, the secrets they do want they're not gonna get. I'm not a firebender." Not yet he wasn't. "And we certainly aren't spies." He eyed Blue's scar again, "Are we?"

Those gold eyes snapped to his again, "No."

Something about how he answered, the defensiveness of it, told Aang something wasn't right. "If you're not a spy, you're something aren't you?"

He watched Blue swallow, "It doesn't matter."

Aang wanted to believe him, but, "Is it something I should know about?"

Those eyes were back on him again, "Depends."

He was tempted to ask more, to press Blue for answers, just so he knew what he would need to be careful of. But, Aang wasn't so good with secrets, and whatever this secret was, Blue hadn't harmed Aang for it al this time so, "I trust you. If you need to tell me, you will."

Katara was as nice as she was beautiful. She'd been tending to Appa ever since Sokka came in last night telling her Grandmother that he'd caught two trespassers. She also traded Blue a thicker coat in exchange for one of his hoods, and anything that made Blue stop glaring at everything was alright in Aang's book.

"So what's the plan for us?" Aang asked her after she'd given them a, not sanctioned by Sokka, tour of their village. "Are we going to be held captive here forever or is your brother gonna let us go?"

Katara rolled her eyes, "If I have any say in it you'll be free to go wherever you want by nightfall."

"That's not a definitive yes," Blue pointed out.

Katara gave him a long look, brow raised, "You really feel captive here?"

No, they didn't. Their greatest threat was probably Sokka, and even he was cowed by Katara, so, as long as they made sure he was distracted, Aang saw no reason Blue and him couldn't sneak in, take Appa and fly off with no harm to him or this village. Still, "It's the principle of the thing."

"More like you want some free lodging," Katara corrected. "Don't think we haven't took inventory of what you were carrying."

"Yeah," Aang rubbed his neck, "Well, what can I say, we're growing boys." And there supplies really had been dwindling. Sokka happening upon them last night was kind of a blessing. "Seriously though," he tried again, "We really are here for penguin sledding. I don't get why no one believes us."

Katara fingered her necklace, eyes back on them, "Where did you guys say you were from again?"

"We didn't," Blue answered.

"You wanna answer that now?"

"Not particularly."

Well, Karata and Sokka definitely had the same glare and Blue definitely had an attitude problem. It wasn't wholly his fault, the way he spoke just had a tone to it. Aang didn't particularly mind it, but he knew to people who hadn't been living with silence for a year the edginess would grate after a while.

"I-" Blue clamped a hand over his mouth.

"We don't have to tell you," Blue said, "Our business is our business."

Katara's glare grew more shrewd, "While you're under our roof your business should be ours too. We don't want any trouble here."

"Then don't ask questions that will bring you trouble."

Aang waited for a blow up, but, after a minute the two of them settled down and Blue took his hand from Aang's mouth. A minute more and Katara's smile was back in place and Aang remembering Blue's words from this morning. She really was just pretending to be nice to them, wasn't she. "Come on, I'll show you where we keep the boats. If you're not staying you may as well actually get home."

No amount of telling her Appa could fly would stop Katara, or anyone else they talked to, that they could leave just fine by themselves. The tribe kept up the pretence alright that Aang and Blue were free to go, helping them decide on supplies and mending Appa's saddle.

Yet night came and still Aang and Blue were there. It wouldn't be hard to leave, again, but it was the fact they wanted to keep them prisoner at all that had Aang wanting to stay.

Even more so when Blue, bed roll against Aang's in this cold home, turned over to whisper, "Don't bend in front of them."

He'd given this warning before He'd never spoken before to be fair, but, usually when they were in a new village Blue disappeared, when he didn't, he'd often take Aang's hand and shake his head, somehow sensing better than Aang which village would kill him on sight for just being a bender.

Nevertheless, even after all this time, the warning struck him as odd, and now Blue was speaking to him Aang could ask, "Why?"

"Just don't," Blue muttered, "Promise me."

Aang watched that scarred eye struggle to keep itself open long enough to bore into Aang's. "I won't if you don't," he decided, knowing somewhere in his gut his old suspicion was right.

Aang heard Blue's breath catch, he did his best to cover it up with, "I'm not," but that split second of hesitation said different.

"You are," Aang said, "What are you, fire?" he edged his hand out, pressing it to Blue's chest. He'd always thought Blue ran hot, radiating it. If he had better control over it he wouldn't be so cold here, but, his colouring, his face, it was all Fire Nation. "I don't get it, why does no one like benders? I swear last time I toured we had parties in the streets, my friend Kuzon used to steal fireworks and we'd set them off up the mountains. And Bumi's a little destructive but even he wasn't treated like I have." And Bumi definitely had reason to be with all those times he'd veered the mail chute off course.

"I'm not a firebender," Blue hissed, focused only on that.

"Not a very good one maybe," Aang agreed which, somehow, made Blue even more mad. "It's not a bad thing," he tried again.

Blue turned his back on him.

"Oh come on. I'm sorry. I'm sure you're great."

No amount of apologies had Blue turning back over. In the end it was Aang that ended up plastered to Blue's back instead of the other way around waking to another icy patch where he'd drooled in the night. He was seriously going to have to start sleeping on his back.

The pair of them kept their bending to themselves the next day. The hours they spent with Katara were done over a map, and, once again, Aang was put under scrutiny. He could tell she was remembering every stop he pointed out to Blue for their next adventure to Omashu.

Blue had a few complaints about their next trip, he didn't seem to like large cities. But after Aang begging and promising a whole host of fun Blue agreed that they should probably go undetected if they played things right.

So long as it wasn't Ba Sing Se, Blue seemed to be alright with it. Until Aang brought up going to Ember Island that night. They'd been planning their escape, or, Blue had, deciding at some point through the day that he didn't want to hang around for another free meal if he could help it. Aang had brought up going to one of the fire islands, Ember was supposed to be a nice vacation spot, so Kuzon said, but at the mere mention Blue had said no so loud Aang was sure Sokka heard him in the tent over.

Blue's outright refusal, the weird welcome, the idea of the Fire Nation having spies, it all weighed on Aang through the night until, the next morning, he demanded of Katara to, "Tell me why your brother's so suspicious of us." Blue was sleeping in, Aang leaving him with both their blankets, one of them bunched up enough to console his ever seeking cuddle hungry head.

Katara said as easily as anything, "Because he thinks your Fire Nation spies," just like the others had.

"Yes but why? The Fire Nation's not got enough influence to send spies to the South Pole." They had an army, and there had been stories of Sozin preparing an attack, but, as far as Aang knew they were still focused on the Earth Kingdom. The Water tribes were small, almost worthless to the Fire Nation who liked the idea of land under their feet instead of ice.

Unless, "Influence? The Fire Nation's razed half of the Earth Kingdom to the ground, the land they haven't they've turned into colonies. We don't even have any men in our tribe anymore because our father got himself killed fighting in Ba Sing Se. Where have you been that you don't know this?"

"In an iceberg," Aang realised. He didn't think it was one or two days anymore, and that thought struck fear right through his bones.

Not even listening to Katara anymore he raced over to where Blue was huddled and grabbed the bags they'd kept around them for their trip. Blue woke as Aang came back for the last two, scrambling about as he pulled his boots on. "What did they do?"

"Nothing," Aang said, leaving him to get to Appa.

"Then where's the fire? I thought you wanted to stay another day?" Nevermind that Blue had been ready to camp out on Appa's back until the bison flew again.

Aang didn't answer, tightening Appa's saddle. He had to go, he had to check. He didn't even think to wait for Blue until the man was racing after Appa's sleepy steps, launching himself, swords strapped to his back once more, onto Appa's tail and climbing into the saddle. "Thanks for waiting for me."

"Yip yip."

He may have been a little unfair to Appa in the next few days. Aang may have been wired, but the other two certainly weren't. Or, Appa wasn't. As soon as they landed that first night Blue realised he'd left his mask behind, and since then had jumped at every sound he heard. He didn't sleep at night, which meant Aang had company, if not conversation as they waited until daybreak. Their hours of rest were short, Blue often napping in the saddle, where no one but Aang would see him, but Aang didn't care. He just didn't care.

Not until the mist cleared and he saw the mountains hiding his home appear.

"The air temple?" Blue muttered, climbing next to Aang. "What are we doing here?"

"I need to see something," Aang told him, no more questions asked until they landed.

Aang knew in his gut before he saw the Fire Nation helmets that the Monks had not escaped this culling. He knew in the way there were no bisons flying around. No sounds of laughter, or feeling of spiritual energy in the air. Just silence. Pure silence.

He explored every inch, hoping for a coded message or sign that some of his people had escaped. Which was when he happened upon the bodies. They were piled up in an underground cavern, their flesh decayed and clothes eaten at. Aang didn't know what was worse, that they were dead, or that he knew them. Even now, in their death Aang knew them.

"Gyatso."

Gone.

Everything was gone.

He felt a scream building inside his throat, the sickness of guilt and suffocation of loss warring inside of it. It lodged there, stuck, but growing bigger with every thought Aang had. Every body he saw that he knew he could have saved if he hadn't run away. Every scorch mark he knew he could have prevented if he'd done what the monks wanted and set off to learn waterbending.

But he'd been a coward. He hadn't wanted to leave home, knowing it would never be his home again. He was scared of what this title meant. Of Avatar, and now-

"Aang!" his foot was burning, and with it the lodge in his throat.

His knees hit the floor, seeming to travel longer than they needed to, and with one small thought as to what had happened to his foot he let his scream loose. There was no power behind it, no bending, just Aang making noise enough that his throat felt raw the second he stopped.

The monks were still where they'd been laid to rest, undisturbed save for a few of their sashes blown a different way.

"You're the Avatar," penetrated Aang's ears.

He looked around, Blue staring back at him, his hand still on fire. Guess that answered his foot. "They're dead."

"They have been for a hundred years," Blue's eye was still wide, his breathing growing shakier until he almost matched Aangs. "You're the Avatar."

"A hundred years?" How was that possible? How was any of this possible? A pained moan escaped him. He'd abandoned them. He'd abandoned everyone. Katara had said the Earth Kingdom had been razed, conquered and razed. He was the Avatar. He was meant to save people and instead he was here, a hundred years too late.

He didn't question Blue's estimation. The scorch marks on the walls were decades old, faded into the chipped paint. When Aang brought himself to his feet he saw the age in Gyatso's statue, how worn it was, when, just last year to Aang, it was newly erected.

A hundred years.


	4. Chapter 4

"Why would they do this?" Aang asked later. It seemed wrong, but Aang had let Blue start a fire in one of the old halls to keep them warm. He'd been quiet, following Aang around with those same wide eyes he'd had calling Aang the Avatar. Aang didn't really know what to do about it, didn't really want to address it right now. Not when there were other, more pressing things, to talk about.

"Do what?" Blue grit out, his voice still raspy from disuse. Or maybe that was how he always sounded. Aang didn't know.

"Kill them?" He could barely force it out his throat, the words half said but Blue heard him all the same, "The monks were peaceful. We had no army. What threat were we to the Fire Nation?"

The fire crackled between them, echoing off the silent halls again and again like one long windchime. Would they hate him for bringing a firebender here? Were their spirits angry that he'd ran away?

"None," Blue said after a while.

"What?"

"They weren't a threat," Blue agreed. "But you were, and everyone knew that after fire comes air."

"So…" he was the reason they were gone. He clawed his hands down his eyes. He should have been here. He should have helped them.

"You're really the Avatar," Blue said.

"And you're a firebender, way to state the obvious."

Blue blinked a few times at him before breathing out carefully. Anger exercises. Firebending exercises. Kuzon used to do that too now Aang thought about it. He was always careful about his breathing. Said it was important.

"I thought you were just an airbender," Blue said. "I thought, maybe, some of them escaped the attack. That your people were just in hiding. I couldn't believe how stupid you were being, blatantly advertising yourself."

"And what? Was all this some big ploy for me to bring you back to them. So you could tell the Fire Nation and wipe us out once and for all?" Aang demanded.

Blue didn't even get a chance to react before Aang lay back down.

"I'm sorry," He said, "That was unfair. I know you're not going to hurt me." It had been a year, and not once did Blue take his mask off. There were easier ways to persuade someone to take them to a hidden base than pretending to be their silent friend. "I'm just…"

"Angry," Blue supplied. "I don't blame you." He stared at the fire a moment before chuckling darkly under his breath, "You know, maybe it was a good thing I didn't find out you were the Avatar until now. If I'd known when we met…"

"What?" Aang pressed when Blue didn't go on.

He sighed, eyes on the fire again.

"Blue what?"

"Zuko," Blue said. "I've been wanting to correct you for months but," he sighed, "It's Zuko. Prince Zuko formerly."

"Prince." Aang didn't know what to do with that. Rage battled hard in his chest but, "It's nice to meet you Zuko," won out, "I'm Aang."

Zuko met his gaze, incredulity written across his face, "You're not mad?"

Aang looked him over, "You're eighteen. Seventeen when we met and I'm guessing younger than that when this whole thing started. You were a kid, I'm not gonna hold you responsible for something that wasn't your fault."

"But," Zuko blinked, "But my grandfather's the Fire Lord."

"And I used to be a woman. Are you gonna hold everything I did in my past lives against me? They were a different person. You're a different person than your grandfather. Besides," he tacked on, "You said 'formerly'."

Silence settled between them, Aang gathering himself for the question he really wanted to ask. He knew Zuko had the answers too. In the way he wouldn't look at the walls, how his curiosity to explore was missing.

"Tell me about it. Tell me about everything Zuko. Don't leave anything out."

With a twist of his lips Zuko did. He told Aang about the attack on the Air Nomads. How quick it was because the monks were peaceful people. Then he started on the rest. The raids in the Earth Kingdom. The wars, the battles, the visit to the South Pole.

"None of my family were present at that raid, but, there's always a possibility they've seen my face on a poster. I would have chanced a fight with them if they weren't just kids." Meaning they probably hadn't seen or remembered his face if they had seen it.

He told Aang about the conquering of Ba Sing Se. How Omashu had been made into a stronghold for the Fire Nation, their main source of trade. How Ozai had razed an Earth City to the ground in the midst of a comet that finally made the Earth Kingdom surrender to them.

"What kind of man can do that?" Aang wondered.

Zuko shook his head, "No man. Just a monster."

He told Aang of the new regime. How benders, any that weren't fire, were taken away and put into prisons and labour camps, forced to work until they die.

He told Aang all of this and nothing about why he was here with Aang instead of standing alongside his family. Aang was glad for it. After what he'd learned he didn't think he could conjure any pity for Zuko tonight.

When he finished, the moon was high in the sky. Flattening out his bedroll next to Zuko's he closed his eyes that night to a world bathed in fire.

For once he woke before Zuko. He thought he'd dream of monsters and monks but his sleep that night had been empty, restful even. He wanted to feel guilty but, he would be plagued with nightmares the rest of his life, why question a night of nothingness for no reason?

Zuko was curled on top of Aang's arm, his own on Aang's neck and it was nice to know he'd meant it last night when he'd said he didn't blame Zuko. There were no feelings of hate when Aang looked at a man that was both prince and Fire Nation. Nor should there be, he knew, but sometimes rationality and emotion clashed.

It was nice, a few minutes later, when the face that rubbed against his arm didn't have a mask on. The amount of times Aang cursed its very existence when it was chafing up his arm he didn't even know. Bleary yellow eyes squinted up at him, Zuko mumbling, "What are you thinking about?" Most likely expecting a grief filled answer.

But Aang had thought, he'd rested and he'd promised himself he wouldn't let himself be ruled by grief. Not when there were more important things at stake now. So, "I'm thinking about duty."

"That's deep," Came Zuko's half asleep answer.

"It is deep," Aang agreed with a grin, "It's also time I faced it. I'm the Avatar," he said, the title resting heavily on his tongue, "It's my duty to restore balance to the world and that's what I'm gonna do." Or die trying probably.

"It's never easy," Zuko grumbled, "My Uncle used to say that to me when I asked why my cousin joined the army. Duty is never easy, he said, that's why it's duty."

"Sounds like a wise man."

Zuko nodded, "I thought so. But, how wise can he be if he's part of my Grandfather's crusade?"

"I think you answered your own question." Duty wasn't easy, but if it was his duty to do as he was told then why do differently? "Not everyone can choose their duty."

They packed up, Aang finding Appa pulling up grass and fending of a lemur of all things.

"No," Zuko said as Aang held the lemur up to him, "We're not keeping it."

"But it's part of my heritage," Aang whined, wiggling the lemur a little more in Zuko's face. "Look at him, he's so cute, and he's all alone up here. We can't just leave him."

"No."

Yet Zuko was the one trying to teach Momo tricks later as they took off from the Air Temple.

The problem with fulfilling his destiny was that Aang had no idea how to do that. He'd seen Roku before he left, the Avatar telling Aang he had to master the four elements first. The problem with that being Aang didn't know how many elements were even left.

"I mastered air when I was twelve," Aang told Zuko over the fire that night. Momo was napping on Zuko's knee, the two of them almost best friends at this point. "The cycle is always water afterwards, but you said they led raids to the water tribes."

"They did," Zuko agreed. "But I don't know if they took all the benders. Katara said the men in her tribe willingly left, one of them could have been a bender."

"Yeah but they're dead," according to Katara.

"There's a North Pole," Zuko reminded him. "Last I heard they had no plans to attack it. The Poles were always just useless, not worth conquering. There's nothing really of value they could add to the empire." The way he said it rankled a little with Aang, but he understood what Zuko was truly saying. To the Fire Nation, they wouldn't be interested in blocks of ice and meagre imports of fish. The Water Tribes had no commercial value, just water and people, and Aang was sure at some point they would turn their sights to the Water Tribe but, for now, they hadn't.

Which meant, "We'll check it. I want to try the South Pole first though. It's smaller. If we go North there's a bigger chance of an airbender learning to waterbend spreading around. The less than twenty people in the South don't have the means to fish further than a day away never mind send messages."

"That's true," Zuko nodded. "What about earth?"

Aang shrugged, "Break someone out of a labour camp?" It was as good a thought as any, "And of course you can teach me fire."

Zuko's eyes snapped to his with a "What? No way. I can barely teach myself firebending nevermind you. You need a master."

"And until we get one you can show me the basics. You know the basics right?" Aang taunted.

Zuko huffed, a puff of fire escaping his mouth. Whether intentional or not it proved Aang's point that Zuko could at least teach him something, and something was better than nothing.

So, "Great, we have a plan."

"We have the beginnings of a plan. Stating the obvious is not a plan Aang."

It was still a thrill to hear his name being said, just like it was great to be able to say, "Well having anything at all is better than nothing Zuko."

Now Aang knew why he had to keep a low- lower really- profile it was easier gathering food and extra blankets for their trip back to the South Pole. Zuko, or Blue since he'd almost slapped Aang when he said Zuko's real name in public, preferred staying near Appa now he was without his mask. When he did venture to the village with Aang it was with his hood pulled so far over his face the attention he was hoping not to fall on him actually did. No one wore a hood that low unless they were up to no good.

It was a relief, therefore, to be flying on Appa with the saddle full of hay and food and no other plans to stop again until they reached the South Pole.

As soon as the air turned from chilled to frigid he heard Zuko start cursing. First it was about Sokka keeping his mask, which, yeah, Aang supposed did help keep out the cold. Then it was about his bending ability, apparently some guy hadn't taught Zuko how to properly regulate his body and he was paying the price for it now swaddled in blankets. Once that particular thread ran dry Zuko just cursed because he was miserable and moving his mouth stopped it from aching when the cold hit his face.

Aang kind of liked it. He liked hearing another voice. Even if it was saying unkind things he knew Zuko was, again, miserable, and apparently this was how he dealt with misery when he wasn't forcing himself to keep a vow of silence.

It took some trial and error to find the Water Tribe. Mostly because Aang kept spotting penguins every few icebergs. If it weren't for Zuko taking the reigns off Aang he was sure it would have taken them another week to find the small village that already had Sokka on their tiny wall shouting abuse at them.

"Guess we should have left a note," Aang said.

"Or, you know, not come back," Zuko suggested.

"I need a teacher."

Zuko sighed, setting Appa down more than a spears throw away. "I know, that's why we're here."

Aang gave Sokka a wave when they were close enough, and for that wave he got a spear sent his way, Zuko rolling Aang out the way before it hit.

"I could have knocked it off course," Aang said, dusting snow off himself.

Zuko shook his head, "Don't show your bending. Even if they do let us back in it's not a good idea to advertise you're the Avatar."

"But-"

Zuko's glare shut him up.

He waved at Sokka again when they got closer again, this time ducking to avoid a boomerang. "How many weapons does this guy have on hand?"

Quite a lot it turned out. Between snowballs, another three spears they were met at the base of the South tribes wall with a knife and a rather pissed looking Sokka. Zuko took care of the knife with a few flicks of his wrist, leaving Sokka worn out and going more red by the minute.

"Er hi," Aang waved again. "So, about the taking off, want to start off by saying sorry about that."

A finger was waved in front of Aang's eyes, "Don't even try and butter me up Fire Nation scum."

"For the last-" Zuko started.

"I don't want to hear it. I just-" Sokka deflated, the fight going out of him entirely, "Just tell me when they'll be here. Give me a chance, at least, to get the kids out."

"The kids?" Right, Fire Nation spies. He cast a glance to Zuko, finding the same frustration on his face. Aang considered him only a moment longer before deciding he'd just have to live with Zuko's anger. "We're not here to attack you. I feel like introductions are properly in order. Hi, I'm Aang of the Southern Air Temple. The Avatar."

Sokka blinked at him a few times before bursting out laughing. Not the best reaction he was hoping for, but, again, Sokka wasn't outright punching him, so it could be worse. "The Avatar, good one."

"Yeah," Zuko forced a chuckle out, "Good one Aang."

"No, I am." He wasn't too sure about other elements but airbending he could give a good show of, and did so now, twirling his glider until he sent a large gust knocking Sokka over. "See." If everyone knew the Airbenders were… extinct then whoever had the ability to do so now had to be the Avatar. Or, if they thought like Zuko, he was part of some underground Airbender survivors.

Regardless, Sokka wasn't looking murderous anymore. "That-that was airbending."

Aang nodded, reaching into his robes to get his marbles, "So's this," he spun them around, a little airbending trick that always used to win him a smile from the masters.

In this case it got him another shocked flapping mouth from Sokka and Zuko threatening to end the Avatar line under his breath.

"That," Sokka started again, "That proves nothing."

"What?" But, supposedly Airbenders were extinct, surely it proved everything. "But I'm the Avatar."

Sokka got to his feet, "The Avatar is dead," he stated, just like that, like it was fact. Which, it probably had been to these people.

Zuko walked in front of Aang, "The Avatar is alive. It's him." He gave Aang another glare before taking one deep breath, "Right, hands like this." Aang copied him, understanding dawning as Zuko told him to control his breathing, and on the exhale push out the heat in his body.

It wasn't the greatest display of firebending ever performed, and next to Zuko's it looked absolutely pathetic. But fire did come out of Aang's hands, on the second go, and there Sokka had it, proof that Aang could bend more than one element.

"I firebended," Aang cheered.

Zuko took another careful breath, "I can't believe you're our hope to destroy the Fire Nation."

"Hey!"

"You're-" Sokka's finger landed in front of Aang, switching slowly to Zuko and back until it was a near blur, settling finally as he said, eyes wide, "You're the Avatar. You're actually the Avatar."

"S'what they tell me," Aang shrugged. He rocked on his heels, the shock wearing off Aang faster than Sokka. "So, does that mean we can talk now?"

"Of course," Came, not from Sokka, but from an elderly looking woman poking her head over the wall.

"Gran Gran!" Sokka snapped, "You're supposed to be with Katara."

"She is," Katara's head popped up next, eyes on Aang, "Are you really the Avatar."

"Sure am." He did his airbender trick again, following it up with an even more pathetic flame than last time. Still, fire was what came out of his hands, and fire was what the rest of them saw. "We're here to look for a waterbending teacher since, you know, I have to master the four elements."

"Waterbender. I'm-" Sokka clamped his hand over Katara's mouth.

"Ignore her. And if you're looking for waterbenders then you'd really better leave. There are no waterbenders here. Not anymore."

"Fire Nation?" Aang guessed, figuring he'd best get used to blaming everything on them. "No wonder you're so suspicious." If they had no benders they had no defence. The warriors were gone, and, while there may not be much left to raid, that didn't mean the idea of conquering the South Pole wasn't still on some people's minds. Suddenly Aang was wondering how Sokka had even allowed himself to be talked over last time Aang and Zuko were here.

"Yeah so," he made some shooing motions.

Aang didn't question Sokka. Why should he? There was no one in their village. No one who could teach him anyway. The kids, if they were benders, hadn't had a teacher, and the women left behind surely would have left, or joined Sokka's guard if they had any bending. Sharing a shrug with Zuko, Aang bowed low in thanks to Sokka, "Sorry for taking up your time."

Somewhere, deep down, he'd known coming here was a longshot. But, South was a shorter distance than North, and South had less people to attack Aang properly if he was unwelcome.

"That was a bust," Zuko sighed when they hopped on Aappa.

"Not really," Aang said, debating whether it was better to get moving now or let Appa have a few more hours sleep.

"Oh no, you told them you were the Avatar. I forgot about that."

"It was a good decision."

"It was a stupid decision. What if one of them had been Fire Nation?" Coming from Zuko it sounded strange.

"Fire Nation?"

Zuko shrugged, "They're so paranoid why is it so hard to think there might have been spies in the past. That there are some there now. If one of them heard you were the Avatar they'll be sailing back to my grandfather as soon as they can. You only have the element of surprise once. Once Aang. Once people know you're back there's going to be bounties for your head. We're never going to be able to walk anywhere without hiding. You have to start thinking smart."

He let Zuko go on. They were all good points, the only problem was that he should have maybe said this before, or, as Aang remembered he kind of had, maybe explained a little more in depth just why Aang should keep his Avatarness a secret.

"Well it's out now. If they tell, they tell."

Appa groaned in agreement.

Even Momo, who'd been hibernating under Zuko's nest of blankets chirped loud enough for Aang to think he was on his side.

"See, done. Now, let's find our way to the North Pole."


	5. Chapter 5

Easier said than done. They got to around about where they'd landed before they set off to the South Pole for the first time before Zuko told him, outright, they needed a map or he'd throw Aang off Appa next time they were in the sky.

"I refuse to get lost. If we're going to the North Pole, we're going to the North Pole. No stops. No riding Elephant Koi, no pouncing on poor tiger seals. If you want to pester some poor animal that's what we have Momo for." It was only when they went to the village that Zuko remembered he still hadn't stole his mask back and ended up scrambling behind Aang as he fixed his hood up.

Zuko was in a bad mood the rest of the day. Aang on the other hand was actually rather giddy. Save the looming grief of being the last of his people, the fact that he needed to defeat the firelord that was also Zuko's grandfather and restore peace to the land and that he was constantly starving as only a seventeen year old growing boy could be, he was actually going to learn waterbending. Better, he had proof now, thanks to Zuko, that he was capable of bending other elements. The amount of times he practiced the short move Zuko taught him in the South Pole he couldn't count. Enough to annoy Zuko so much that he ended up correcting Aang's stance when they landed so the little flame became that little bit bigger.

"No."

Aang leaned that little bit further onto Zuko, pushing him further into the bed rolls, "Please?" He asked again.

"I said no." He was getting snappy.

Still, "Please, please, please?"

"No Aang!"

He fell back, pouting as large as he could just in case Zuko sneaked a peek. He'd only wanted a few more firebending lessons. Annoying Zuko into giving him another one wasn't working presently, and begging needed to be crossed off the list too. Apparently, according to Zuko, he wasn't going to teach Aang firebending until he'd mastered the other elements he needed to.

Something about needing to build a solid foundation with the others before tackling something as 'wild as fire'. Aang didn't get it. Zuko knew firebending. Aang was the Avatar and had the ability to learn firebending. Now. Without needing to wait.

He bet Roku didn't have to wait.

They flew around to one of the outlying islands in the Earth Kingdom. One night of relaxation and Aang sneaking into the village to buy food later he was woken, earlier than usual, to by something adding to the heat around them.

Firebending. All those early mornings Aang woke up Zuko had been firebending.

Pretending to still be asleep, he rolled over under his blanket and caught a look at Zuko. It felt like watching Master Gyatso use his glider for the first time. Amazing and awe inspiring. The pure control it took to warp that kind of power, the fact firebending flowed almost as smooth as airbending. Aang knew the bending moves always flowed like their element, but until he was able to actually study another element in action did Aang realise just how that actually looked. His hands flickered like spitting fire, legs twisting like long plumes. He moved in the wind, with it, against it, used it to direct his own fire that leapt from his hands and feet in smooth orange arcs.

About an hour Zuko was on this until he'd tired himself out enough to sit, legs crossed and just breathe. Fire comes from the breath he'd told Aang. Sure enough after a few breaths it started coming slowly out his mouth, the fire changing colour the more he seemed to calm.

"I'm not teaching you," Zuko said, one golden eye focusing on Aangs.

He sat up, abandoning his blanket to mirror Zuko's pose. "You don't have to. Now I know you're practicing every morning I can learn by watching." He focused on breathing, trying to figure out just how Zuko was doing that breath thingy.

Unfortunately he wasn't doing it anymore. "If you'd been watching you'll know why I can't be your teacher."

Aang took a moment, thought it over and, nope, "What do you mean? It looked like firebending to me."

"Barely!" Zuko was getting himself worked up again. "Did you see me? I barely know the basics."

"Those were the basics?" They looked pretty good to Aang. Very fiery.

Zuko took off, Aang not seeing him until noon. When he came back, Aang didn't mention the firebending from this morning and Zuko didn't start another fight.

Zuko, since he'd been brought up a prince, was in charge of the map. Or was it because he'd been on his own way longer than Aang and hadn't had a flying bison to tow him around? Aang wasn't too sure. What he was sure about was that Zuko knew how to read a map and, better, how to give directions.

In next to no time they were cruising through cool air again, Zuko cursing snow for merely existing and the two of them back to sharing one bed roll. Aang didn't really mind. In fact, after finding out he was the last of his people it was nice to fall asleep next to someone, to wake up in a panic and just know there was someone next to him that was still real, still alive. He had something in this new world that didn't make him want to give up.

They were camped out in a ring of ice. Literally. It curved up into the perfect circle, hollowed out so Aang and Appa could curl up nicely. Zuko wasn't too fond of it, preferring to lie on Appa instead with Momo trying to suffocate him as he hid inside Zuko's hood.

It was a nice night, the moon especially bright in this part of the world. It was soothing, circular, the white in the dark sky looking more like a marking than a separate entity. "We should be there by tomorrow evening," Zuko grumbled, shoving the map into his bag. "You remember our story, right?"

"Waterbender from the South Pole," Aang recited, eyes still on the moon.

"And your tattoos?"

"Will be covered. It's like you don't trust me."

Zuko's scoff said as much too.

The water was oddly still around here. No, not still, "It's like a heart."

Some rustling, and if Aang looked he knew he'd be able to make out Zuko's gold eyes even in this darkness. They seemed to glow. Like fire. "What's like a heart? Do you hear something?"

Always paranoid. "The water. The way it's moving. It's gentle. Rhythmic. Like a heart. Or breathing." It's like it's alive. More than alive. It was like a breath on a cold day. In the South Pole it wasn't seen, the waters wild and dangerous with all manner of creatures lurking beneath the water. But the more north they came the more the waters settled, the more breath someone could see fogging its way out of the mouth. It was like, here, they were right on the lips, the waters feeling calm, but calm in a sense that it was purposeful, not just a chain reaction. Sentient Aang would call it.

"They say the moon and ocean spirits watch over the North Pole," Zuko said.

"Spirits?" He remembered the monks telling him about the spirits. About how he was the bridge between them and here. It was how he was able to see Roku. How he was able to communicate with his past lives if he so wished. But it was one thing a past life and another the very ocean being a spirit. He'd always thought the ocean was one big lion turtle. "Do you think they'll harm us?"

More rustling, Zuko shaking his head, "So long as we don't bother the spirits they have no reason to harm us."

Aang took Zuko's word for it.

"Why? Do you feel like they're going to harm us?"

Aang let himself feel for a moment, sinking his head back into the ice and listening to the ocean beat against their berg. He shook his own head, "It just feels calm."

There was a pause, then, "That's good."

"Is it?"

Zuko paused again. "I heard stories when I was younger that people would pray to spirits to help them. But what people don't know is that spirits don't abide by the same rules we do. If they hear a plea for help they just hear the plea, they don't know who is doing the asking and often stories end with both sides just, gone. I was tempted to go North after I left home. It was the furthest I could get, but…"

"You were scared of the spirits," Aang finished.

"The things they're capable of aren't worth imagining."

Aang agreed.

"Were they your favourite bedtimes stories?" Aang asked.

"What?"

"Spirits," Aang repeated, "When you were younger, was that what you used to ask your father to tell you?"

There was a hard snort, Zuko sounding like he was choking for a moment before, "No," rang loud between them. He didn't elaborate further. Not until Aang was near sleep, eyes heavy from watching the moon in the water, its reflection looking like it was swimming in constant circles with the ocean. "My uncle."

Aang blinked the sleep away, "Your uncle what?"

"He used to tell me stories about them. He's, what you might call superstitious." So was Zuko from the looks of things. But, then again, being alone for the first time would make anyone suspicious. If Zuko had left home with a friend, maybe his mind wouldn't be so determined to put fear into stories he'd heard as a child.

"Some might call him wise. If those stories are true then everyone should be wary."

Zuko hummed in agreement. "My uncle, he's the one that conquered Ba Sing Se. He wasn't much older than me when the spirits showed him a dream of him conquering the great unconquerable city. Some people call it luck, my uncle calls it destiny. Later, when we get to the Earth Kingdom, we'd best avoid going there at all costs."

"Would he hurt you?" Zuko hadn't exactly elaborated on just why he'd left home yet. Aang wanted to ask, but, honestly, escaping from a family that sounded pure evil from what he'd learned was all the excuses Zuko needed to turn his back on them.

"My uncle?" More rustling, Aang hearing Momo chirp as one of Zuko's shoulders probably nudged him in his shrug. "I don't know. But it's best we don't find out."

Which was fair.

They woke the next morning before the sun, Zuko finding everything he could to disguise them as water tribe citizens. "If worst comes to worst we'll tell them we picked up a few things in the Earth Kingdom," Zuko sighed when he could only find a green bandana to wrap around Aang's head.

"Fine by me." He felt a little like a pirate with it on, giving Zuko a few 'arghs' that had the teen rolling his eyes at Aang.

Gloves would do to keep his hands hidden, after that bandages when Aang found a good bending teacher. With Zuko's water tribe coat he didn't stand out as much as Aang. His clothes were dark to begin with and- "What are you doing?"

Zuko paused turning his head, knife still in hand, "My hair isn't exactly 'water tribe'."

"Well," No, Aang guessed it wasn't. "That doesn't mean you have to cut it. Just tie it up."

"It's not long enough to be tied up."

Aang fought as hard as he could but, in the end, Zuko won since he did have the knife. He said it would look strange if his hair wasn't long enough to tie completely up, and when Aang got a good look at Zuko's hair, he saw why. It didn't look like an intentional cut. There were spots, underneath, that were much shorter than the other. If Zuko had tied it up he'd be getting questions as to who exactly had done such a hack job. If Zuko admitted himself he'd done it, people would think he was getting away from somewhere. After all, he had Aang, why hadn't Aang been able to even out his hair if they had, supposedly, grew up together.

It took some careful strokes before Zuko was looking more like Sokka than himself. The top he tied but the underneath was smooth enough Aang could see where his scar bent across his face. It was a miracle hair grew at all over that mangled skin but Aang had to agree, with his hair different and his blue coat, he looked like water tribe.

They didn't fly, instead letting Appa swim through the icebergs. It was less suspicious, Zuko said, and if someone was watching them, like they had done in the Southern Tribe, it was better to pretend to be Water Tribe early on than be caught out on a lie should they see them flying in.

Besides, Appa liked swimming. Even in these frigid temperatures there was nothing better than a nice soak.

Around dusk, when the sun began to fall and Zuko got grumpier, they were met with a sheet of ice bursting from the ocean, towering up and around until Appa had no choice but to stop or risk ruining their cover.

"Name yourself," began the usual welcome party Aang was beginning to expect from the Water Tribes.

They were taken to the chief almost straight away. The glittering city of the North Pole they only got a brief glimpse of before they were shut in a room with a kind looking man who, nevertheless, spent a long time looking over Aang's clothes.

"Southern Water Tribe then?" The chief started. "That's a long way to travel."

Aang shrugged, "Well, we figured the trip worth it."

"I'm sure." The chief's gaze went right back to Aang's mismatched clothes. "So what exactly about our lovely North gleaned your interest. One would think you'd venture to the Earth Kingdom if you were looking for a change of scenery."

"Well-"

Zuko grabbed Aang's hand, nails digging in. Apparently he didn't trust Aang to even give their cover story, taking over with a swift, "I mean no offence to our home but there is little opportunity there for us anymore. The warriors are gone, and not a few weeks ago we saw the first outsiders we'd seen since the raids. There were rumours they were spies. We- I know it was cowardly, but, our defences are weak and I wasn't fond of the idea of watching ash fall from the sky again."

The chief's gaze was softer after that, either because Zuko was one hell of a liar which, he definitely wasn't, Zuko just knew how to bend the truth, or that his words, coupled with the scar on his face would have anyone believing he'd want to run from another Fire Nation attack.

"We also heard there were still waterbenders here," Zuko went on. "Aang, he's a bender, but without a teacher his gifts are left to rot."

"We don't mean you any harm," Aang bit out before Zuko dug his nails in further. Even with gloves on Aang could feel the tight grip digging into his skin.

The chief glanced down again, something settling in his gaze. "No, I suppose you don't. We'll have rooms made up for you for the week. I'll organise a meeting with one of our masters in the morning. If he agrees to train you your residence will be with the other studying benders."

"And Zu- Lee?" Aang caught himself.

Not fast enough however, "Zulee too. I'm sure the masters won't be too bothered about your companion staying with you so long as you both keep out of trouble."

"Great."

Zuko made them bow. Later, as they were basking in having a real bed, Zuko told him just how he was supposed to address royalty. Apparently there was more to just bowing before and after speaking to someone. There were certain ways to speak, certain ways to behave. Ways that Aang thought the chief of the Water Tribe wasn't all that bothered about. Truthfully he'd had a little grin on his face when Aang had finished bowing to him, like he wasn't all that used to it. Or the profound thanks Zuko gave him afterwards. Then again, did the Northern Tribe get many visitors? Maybe this was protocol but because no one visited it was never instituted.

Whatever the case, Zuko had been brought up with manners by someone, and Aang thought it was funny in a cute way that he still had the thought to remember them. Once a prince always a prince Aang supposed.

They woke early, Aang dragging Zuko from his bending practices into meditation. "I've meditated before," Zuko snapped when Aang tried to give instruction.

"Maybe not well since those breathing exercises you do aren't showing any results. I am a monk you know, meditation was a daily thing growing up." The main problem Zuko had, Aang had realised over the weeks, was that he put too much thought into breathing. "If you think too hard about it, you're not doing it right. You overthink, you don't breathe deep enough. The whole point of breathing is that it's something that you just do."

"Don't give me firebending tips when you have no idea what you're talking about," Zuko hissed, abandoning his seat to look for his boots.

Aang didn't let Zuko's mood get to him, staying relaxed for the limited time they still had left before breakfast. "I'm not fighting with you. I'm just saying that breathing is effortless and so should adding your fire to it be." Another boot clunked down onto the floor, Zuko looking for his coat now. Aang was surprised he'd took it off at all. "What's really wrong?"

"Nothing," shot back faster than it should if Zuko wanted Aang to actually believe him.

He didn't even open his eyes, knowing Zuko could see his brow lifting.

"It's not important."

"If you say so."

Peace was restored with Zuko sitting down again after his little tantrum was finished. When the guards came to knock later Zuko was looking much more relaxed and didn't even think to dig his nails into Aang's hand when they met up with the chief and his family for breakfast.

"My daughter, Princess Yue," he introduced to them, along with her fiance that got a raised brow from Zuko.

"She's eighteen," Zuko said later as they were led, escorted, on a tour around the city while the chief asked the masters for a meeting. "Usually a betrothal lasts a year, if less than that really. Considering most are affianced at sixteen it's a bit unusual she's not married yet."

"Why? Got your eye on her?" Aang teased, still trying to stop himself from laughing at Zuko's casual use of 'affianced'. No one talked like he did.

"'Course not," Zuko scoffed.

Aang was tempted to try his luck, but with the morning Zuko seemed to be having thought better of it. Instead, he focused on their tour. The last time he'd been to a Water Tribe was, well, never. When he'd been younger the benders all intermingled with each other. The few waterbending friends he had always met him on their adventures, usually helping him wrangle an elephant koi on Kyoshi Island. Seeing the South, and now this, with its actual structures housing hundreds of families, its market, its pure beauty and life, it was incredible. Even Zuko thought so as he stopped a few times to overlook a bridge and ask about what surrounded them. He could have just been getting a layout in case they needed a quick escape, but, Aang saw the wonder in his eyes.

He wondered if this was how Zuko had looked all the other places they'd visited. What kind of life did a prince of the Fire Nation even live? How far had he strayed from his home, truly explored, before Aang had kidnapped him?

He didn't know.

They were led back to the chief sometime after lunch. Inside, and slightly warmer, they were met with several men, all of whom looked Aang up and down much like their chief had the day before.

The masters, Aang assumed.

He was proven right too when one of them came forward with an offer to study in his school. "You will have to start with the rest of the beginners, but, I'm sure you'll catch up to the rest of your age group if you put the hard work in," Master Haruk said.

Aang gave him a short bow, "Whatever you have to teach me I'll be glad to learn." Words he would soon eat.

They were given quarters in Master Haruk's school alongside the other boys he was teaching. The rules were simple enough. No fighting unless it was in the said sparring time. No pranks. No excess of alcohol since there were children in some of the surrounding rooms, and, no sex. That one got Zuko a stern look at too.

"Don't know why they're thinking we're bringing girls back here," Aang sighed, doing his best to stuff Zuko's many, many blankets onto the singular bed in here. "It's barely big enough for two nevermind-" he was going to say three, but, Aang supposed if Zuko were to bring a girl back Aang would make himself scarce. Maybe that warning was well given after all.

Zuko curled up in his newly made bed as soon as Aang was finished, shuffling about until he was nearly wrapped in all of them someway or another.

"So what are you going to be doing while I'm gone then?" Aang asked, getting his mind firmly off negotiation just how they were going to share this room.

Zuko shrugged, "They have an army. Suppose I can ask if I can join in some of their practices. Maybe see if anyone needs anything doing… dunno," Zuko's brow drew together. "Guess I've never really thought about having a normal life."

"Well, what are you good at?" If they were going to be here a while Zuko may as well find something to keep him occupied.

Again, however, Zuko shrugged.

"But you're a prince."

That earned Aang a glare. "Not a very good one if you ask my family."

He didn't press. Instead he leveled Zuko with his own shrug, "Well, in that case why not try a little of everything. You're never going to know what you're good at if you don't let yourself try new things."

"That's true," Zuko agreed after a few minutes.

* * *

**A.N: reviews are welcome and cherished.**


	6. Chapter 6

Having Zuko bringing in some money would help them in the long run too. Aang was getting a little bit of money training up here, since his services would be used in helping guard or build or whatever waterbending was used for here. But if Zuko got himself an actual job with actual money they could save quite a bit of it for when they went back to the Earth Kingdom. No scavenging or busking for a few months at least Aang hoped.

So when they woke the next morning, Zuko dressed with him and headed the other way to seek out just what the North Pole had to offer him. Aang, on the other hand, had bending. Something that wasn't as easy as he first thought it would be.

The moves were different to what he was used to. It wasn't just the sequence either, it was the way his body was forced to move in order to force the water to do what he wanted. He got told so many times that first day to 'push' and 'pull' and feel the water flowing towards him that by the end of it he was ready to blast his new Master into the sky. He was sure the kids would get a kick out of it, they certainly looked sick of hearing him say the same things too, and they'd been here longer than Aang.

Things got worse from there. He was having, what the Master called, a mental block. He didn't doubt Aang's ability, thankfully, since Aang had been able to move some water, but getting it to the level with the rest of his class was difficult. He just didn't get it, and, Aang thought, if he couldn't get waterbending this fast then what about earthbending, what about fire? How was he supposed to master the four elements when they weren't allowing themselves to be mastered.

Zuko scoffed when Aang said all this later. Lounging on their bed, back in his cocoon his bad eye was the only thing Aang could see and even half closed as it was it could give a pretty good glare. "You're just like my sister. As soon as something doesn't go right you have a mental breakdown over it."

"It's fully justified."

Zuko scoffed again, "So dramatic," he mumbled, "Look, just because you didn't get it in the first week doesn't mean you won't ever get it. I know you're some kind of airbending prodigy but not every element is airbending. You're going to mess up. It's going to be hard. Better to learn it now then complain to me every night because I'm not going to listen to it." As if to prove it, Zuko turned, extremely slowly and with some difficulty, until he was facing the wall.

Aang rolled his eyes, "And you call me dramatic."

But Zuko had a point, and if he could go out every day and not complain about how awful he was at making nets or fixing boats then Aang could keep quiet about waterbending. At least until something big happened.

He learned to make his first big wave around his third week. By his fourth, after Zuko had grown fed up with him moping about on an evening and took him to the fishing boats, Aang finally had a breakthrough.

"You said the ocean felt alive right?" Zuko asked, rowing them a little bit further into the water. "Well, dip your hand in."

"... okay," he slid it in, looking back at Zuko when nothing happened.

He got another nasty glare from those gold eyes, "Do I have to actually tell you what to do here. Feel the water."

"I am."

"No-" he sighed, "When you're firebending you feel the heat from your body expanding outwards. It's inside. Water is outside. If you don't know how it feels, how it connects to yourself, then how are you supposed to bend it." He lowered his voice, "You're the Avatar, the ocean is literally a spirit, if you can't feel the ocean at least feel the spirit inside of it and channel it."

It wasn't general know it all- ness that made Zuko knowledgeable about these things, Aang thought, but experience. He said he wasn't a good bender, meaning he'd probably focused more on the basics and his difficulty with them longer than most people. He had a point regardless, and the longer Aang let his hand stay beneath the water the more he noticed it. How it felt, how it flowed, how it wrapped around his hand like a friend, and then how it wrapped around it again like an enemy.

They stayed there a while. Long enough for the moon to hit its peak in the sky. When he finally slid back, Zuko had curled into himself again, arms under his pits and knees to his chin. "We can go in now."

He'd never seen Zuko run as fast.

He finally understood 'push' and 'pull', and even his Master commented on his progress when the stances came easier. It just took some figuring out, working out how the stances, the hand gestures, bent the water. Airbending was freedom, waterbending was riding the current.

"Like this," Aang corrected, nudging Zuko's ankle that little bit further back, "Now move your hands in a circular motion, imagine there's water wrapping around it. You're calling it up, bringing it around for that little bit control, then letting it out." He did the move too, correcting Zuko again when his hands were a little too stiff at the highest peak.

"This is for your benefit, not mine. I don't think it matters how my hands are." But Zuko bent his hands a little more the next time they went through it.

They went through five more sequences, Aang finding it easier to remember them if he was teaching someone else, hence Zuko. Zuko enjoyed it too. Aang could tell. Just like when he used to study and copy Aang's airbending, Aang had seen him try a few waterbending moves too. It wasn't like Zuko could actually bend other elements, Aang just thought he liked studying different fighting patterns. He'd probably been brought up to evaluate his enemies in every which way, something he certainly wasn't doing here to harm the Water Tribe but, once a prince always a prince.

Also, "Do you ever think it could work for your own bending?"

"What could?" Zuko asked, his ankle shifting again until his footing was wrong.

Correcting it, Aang wondered, "This. Do you ever wonder if studying different forms could help your own?"

"This is waterbending." Like it wasn't obvious.

"Well yeah but," he tried to think of how to explain it, "Air and fire, they're not all that different. Element wise anyway. They're both flowy." What he'd seen of Zuko's forms he could vouch for that. "And they sort of move the same way. So does water, actually. It flows through a current like wind through the trees or fire in the air. They all have a base that's fundamentally the same."

"Except earth."

Aang tilted his head, "I mean, maybe. I've never really studied earthbending all that much. My friend Bumi was an earthbender but he'd rather keep it for when he was in trouble. He was too much of a mad genius to solely rely on it."

They went through a few more forms, ending facing the entrance to the dorms. "I suppose it's possible," Zuko said at last. "Some things maybe. But, I think it would need to be adapted in some way. They may all flow but they do so differently. Why are you even thinking about this?"

Aang shrugged, knowing there was a fair chance Zuko was going to go into a mood. "I was just thinking, maybe if you learned waterbending with me it would help your own bending. You said you only know the basics, maybe it's time you taught yourself a little more. It might not be how other people are learning, but, bending is bending."

He didn't get an answer, not until the next evening came around and Aang begged Zuko to let him practice with him. Only when they were alone, and Zuko had shooed a few kids away did Aang see him attempt to blend fire and waterbending together.

It didn't work. Not at first. In fact it took weeks of Zuko coming back to their room with scrolls and parchment, working late into the night, drawing, writing, for the first results of his hard work to show themselves. The fire didn't flow exactly right, but it was fire nonetheless that had been produced because of his moves.

The short victory was just the incentive Zuko needed and before Aang knew it Zuko had found himself a nice little niche with the philosophers of the Water Tribe. "He's a lovely young man," were the things Aang was hearing first. Then it grew to, "Quite a smart one you got there." "You wouldn't mind if we kept him a bit longer tonight would you?"

Looks like Zuko did have a few talents after all. With all his time spent with the Masters and scholars Zuko got himself a nice little job fetching things for them. In exchange for grabbing scrolls, organising their texts and maybe cleaning up the library every now and then he was allowed to sit on some prestigious meetings not even the chief's almost son in law was privy to. He also got a bit of pocket money that did indeed start to add up when things like food and shelter were given to them already by the school.

"What's wrong?" Aang asked one night, Zuko wearing the same scowl he had yesterday after coming home from another one of his scholarly meetings.

"Nothing," Zuko bit out, as usual.

Aang waited him out.

"It's just," There it was, "Master Pakku. He's one of the Masters." Hence the name Aang kept to himself, "And he keeps trying to talk to me. Tells me he wants to meet with me somewhere private."

"And… that's bad?"

That glare, again, "You don't see how he looks at me. I'm sure he knows. He knows I'm Fire Nation."

"How could he possibly know that?"

"I don't know!" Zuko sighed, running his hands through his hair, "I don't know. No one's seen us practice. No one's snatched my scrolls. I don't know how he knows but he does, I can see it Aang."

That wasn't good. "But if he's not told anyone that must mean he's convinced you're on our side." Which Zuko was.

"Or he's going to blackmail me. Maybe wait for the right opportunity, some word from the Earth Kingdom and reveal me to the rest of the court."

To think he called Aang dramatic. "Or he could just be curious about this stranger that's started to sit in during his meetings. Not everyone's out to get you Zuko."

The huff Zuko sent his way told Aang he didn't feel the same way. "It doesn't feel like curiosity."

"Well you won't know if you keep avoiding him," was the only advice Aang had to offer.

Advice Aang wasn't sure Zuko took him up on. He was still moody, still quiet and still jumpy, but he didn't bring up Master Pakku's interest in him again.

Aang progressed from the basics on his third month there. He wasn't with kids his own age, but he wasn't stuck with seven year olds either which, while Aang would miss them, proved he was improving.

It was while he was getting to grips with his new forms that the call went up. Everyone seemed to go into a panic, the kids running from the training hall and to the front bridge where rows upon rows of people were standing and gathered on the rest as the walls opened.

"Fishing boats?" Zuko asked, pushing one of the kids aside to reach Aang.

"They usually use the fishing pits," the ones that were within the walls. Very rarely did they fish outside the walls, and only then because they needed extra food for some feast or other. They only really ventured outside if there was something wrong.

Like outsiders.

Aang had his suspicions, ones that were proven correct when the usual boats were accompanied by another, smaller one, the waterbenders more towing it than letting the two inside row.

"Do they look familiar to you?" Zuko asked.

Aang was going to brush him off, he was always worried about something, but, yeah, now that he was looking there was something familiar about them. It wasn't so much how they looked, since Aang couldn't see their faces properly from his vantage, but what they were wearing. Specifically, what one of them were wearing on their heads.

A wolf.

"That's the boy from the Southern Tribe." Suko or something.

What were they doing here?

"Alright everyone," Master Haruk pushed himself to the front, "Back to your studies. You can all gawk later."

A siren of grumbles started the line back to the practice yard, Aang among them as he lost Zuko once more and got back to his forms.

There was a feast, surprisingly. "They didn't have a feast for us," Aang grumbled, washing his face. They were expected to perform, Haruk spending the rest of the day telling their tutors just what he wanted each year group to do when they were called upon tonight. "How come they get a feast and we don't?"

Zuko wasn't even bothering to get dressed. "Wasn't that guy a chief?"

"Who Suko?" He still didn't remember that guys name. "Dunno, was he?"

Zuko shrugged, "He was the oldest guy there. And from the looks of how they run their society it doesn't look like that Gran Gran of his was going to be given leadership."

Yeah, Aang had noticed that too. Women didn't seem to be well received in this part of the world. A fact that had Zuko commenting frequently that his sister would have razed this place to the ground on that alone. The more Aang learned of Zuko's sister the more he never wanted to meet her.

"I guess he can have a feast then," Aang supposed.

"Like it's up to you," Zuko scoffed, taking over rewrapping Aang's bandages.

Aang felt like a giant sitting next to the nine year olds next to him. Zuko, suck up that he was, had managed to gain a seat next to his new scholarly friends. Although, he spent more time standing fetching stuff for them than sitting eating. He didn't look like he minded however, which Aang supposed that was what mattered.

From his seat way, way in the back, Aang couldn't see their guests of honour all that well. He heard about them however from the rumours that were spreading like wildfire throughout the hall.

Travellers from the South Pole. They'd been to the Earth Colonies. Battled with Warriors of Kyoshi. Escaped a town with an angry spirit. Fought Fire Nation troops left right and centre all in the hopes of getting here.

It was more than they knew about Aang and Zuko, the kids leaving their questions after they'd exhausted themselves asking about Appa.

The feast went off without a hitch and Aang, not to toot his own horn or anything, performed spectacularly.

"But are you sure you saw the wave?" Aang asked that evening, once they'd been allowed to escape back to their dorm. "I was a little further behind in the rows, you might not have been able to see me where you were sitting."

"Aang," Zuko gave him a short look, "You were one of the tallest ones there. It was hard not to see you."

"And…"

Zuko rolled his eyes, "And you were good. Is that what you want to hear? You waterbended Aang, well done."

He ignored the sarcasm, "Thank you."

The weirdly warped compliment, and fact he hadn't messed up his performance, had him in good spirits the next few days. Enough that when Zuko didn't come back one evening Aang didn't think anything of it. He figured they were keeping him later at the library, or he'd finally realised he was good looking and asked out one of those girls down at the healing hut.

He didn't worry when Zuko wasn't there for breakfast. Or lunch. But when dinner rolled around and still no word he was starting to, not worry, but wonder what could have kept Zuko without sending a note for this long.

At the height, when everyone was finished grabbing food and tucking in, Master Haruk stood and told them about a Fire Nation spy that had infiltrated their home. "We will be attending the trial tomorrow morning. For now there is nothing to worry about, the perpetrator has been caught, and hopefully before any information has been sent out."

Not exactly soothing words, but words nonetheless.

Aang actually staked out the library, but when the moon hit its peak and Zuko still wasn't out, he supposed if it were really important Zuko would have sent word so, reluctantly, he went back to their dorm.

They woke early the next morning. In single file they walked to the main hall, all taking their respective seats. The chief gave his opening statement, telling them what Haruk had said the day before, that their peace had been invaded, there had been a Fire Nation spy in their midst. Aang wasn't really listening, doing his best to look over the heads gathered to try and see Zuko.

Which he did. When the spy was brought out. The spy being Zuko.

They were none too gentle with him, carrying him between two guards until he was stood, his blue coat gone and looking more cold than ever, in front of the entire North Pole.

"I believe introductions are in order, don't you Prince Zuko?"


	7. Chapter 7

They knew. Somehow they knew, and Aang couldn't help thinking back on when Zuko had been worried about Master Pakku. Maybe it was him. Maybe Zuko had met with him, had been found out. But that had been weeks ago.

The world dimmed and brightened again, time passing so fast Aang was playing catch up when he started paying attention again. He didn't really know what to do, not until he caught the edge of Zuko's face. In an instant he was up, racing to the front, vaulting over the warriors that tried to get in his way until he was pushing one of the guards holding Zuko with a gust strong enough to send him on his back.

Up close, Zuko's chin physically in his hand, it was much worse than the short scratch Aang had glimpsed. There were bruises right across his face, his nose scabbing at the top, eye black, which didn't help things considering he couldn't exactly open the other one all that good.

"What did you do? What is this?" He demanded. He met the chief's eyes, sure his own were furious. "Someone better tell me what's going on. Now!"

A hush was over the room, the chief looking too confused to even start his spiel again. Eventually it was that girl, Kara or something, from the Southern Tribe that strode forward to tell him, "The Avatar," she turned back to the chief, "This is him, who we've been telling you about." She turned back to Aang, "Look, you may not know us, but you trusted us with spreading your message of hope across the world. And we are not going to let that message die because you've been deceived by Fire Nation scum like him."

"Fire Nation scum?" Zuko may be a little temperamental but, he'd been on his best behaviour when they'd visited the South Pole. Yes they'd seen Zuko firebend a little but it had been harmless. Besides, they hadn't even been there that long, there was no way she could know him well enough to even think he was something so bad as scum.

Yet, "He's a prince. Grandson of Firelord Azulon."

"I know."

"You-" She floundered for a moment, "You know?"

"Of course I do. He told me. And what message of hope? We were just looking for a waterbending teacher," he saw the guard he'd knocked down creep back upright, along with some behind him reaching for their weapons, "Try it and I'll show you just what I've been learning."

"But- but he's one of them."

"If he were one of them he wouldn't be travelling with me." He gave the guards another glare, sensing them getting closer with every second that passed. "For- he's been with me for a year. A year. If he were going to kill me in my sleep, or sell me to his grandfather, don't you think he would have done so before a year has passed? Why keep the charade up for so long? I'll tell you why because he's not a spy!"

Kara, or whatever her name was, opened her mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by a small, "Are you really the Avatar?" the chief's eyes glancing up again and again to Aang's covered head.

Snatching his bandana off, and having a little more trouble with his hands, he held them out for the chief's approval. They may not be signs of the Avatar, but they were certainly signs of a master airbender, and since one of those couldn't exist in this day and age, there was only one conclusion for the chief, and the rest of the hall to make, which they did with little murmurs and whispers growing louder and louder until the guards were put to use quieting them down rather than holding Zuko. The latter of which Aang was thankful for, doing his best to attach himself to Zuko in case their attention came back on them.

"The Avatar," the chief repeated. "Why did you not say? I would have had my best tutors brought to you. You could have stayed here, why did you-"

"Because we were trying to keep a low profile," Zuko spat, Aang noticing for the first time how focused he was on that Kara girl. Always one step ahead, Zuko had realised something Aang just did, that they'd been across the globe getting here. That she'd mentioned spreading word of hope. Word of him.

"No, no no no no no no." She'd told people he was back. That he was alive. Their anonymity as they knew it was over.

"You stupid girl," Zuko said, "If the Fire Nation wasn't following us before they are now. You realise they've probably mobilised a whole naval fleet. If they aren't here by the end of the week I'll be surprised."

"Shut it you," Kara hissed.

"Hey!" Aang snapped.

"Quiet all of you," Chief Arnook ordered, voice finally raised enough to be heard. "Katara I thank you for bringing this information to my halls but I need you to take a seat." Which she did, after a few more minutes of glaring. "Avatar it is an honour to have you in our home, and while I wish you had told me about your presence, I understand your need to keep quiet. But Katara is right, your friend is dangerous-"

"Not to me he's not."

Arnook held his hands up, eyes lingering on where Aang was attached to Zuko, "Perhaps not, and considering your relationship with him please accept our humblest apologies." He looked around the guards, "We will reconvene this meeting at dinner. For now, the Masters and the Avatar will stay, the rest of you continue on your day."

It took a while for the guards to shoo out everyone. When they did, Aang still didn't let go of Zuko's arm. He didn't trust them. As welcoming as they had been, that had been when Aang and Zuko had been fellow Water Tribe, now, outsiders, who knew what they might try. Not to mention Katara was still looking murderous. Her brother on the other hand, actually, "Where is your brother?"

"He's-" Katara looked to her left, then her right, and when her brother still didn't magically reveal himself looked skyward in a way that only spoke of practiced frustration. "I'm gonna kill him."

Princess Yue was gone too, but Aang wasn't sure if she was allowed to even stay for this kind of meeting.

Before anything started Aang demanded a medical kit of some kind, taking Zuko to one of the benches to start cleaning the many cuts there.

"They're going to try and lock me up again," Zuko said, no hint of fear in his voice. Aang would be scared if he were in Zuko's place.

"I won't let them."

"If it makes them happy maybe you should let them," Zuko sighed.

"What?"

"The Fire Nation is coming. If it makes them feel safer to have me under constant watch then let them do it. Worrying about me is only going to waste time they could be using to plan their defence. I wasn't lying about the navy being deployed. You're dangerous Aang-"

"I barely know two elements-"

"And the Fire Nation don't know that. They just remember what Roku did to them, how he stopped them. For all they know you're a hundred and seventeen year old man who's been biding his time waiting for the right chance to strike."

Paranoid, Aang was tempted to tease but, Zuko was paranoid, and he was one of the good ones in his family. If he was the tip of the iceberg Aang hated to think what the actual iceberg was like. They probably did think what Zuko was telling him. Still, "I'm not going to let you be locked up."

Zuko didn't argue further, just tilted his head so Aang could get to the cuts on his scar. There were quite a lot of them, Aang's anger getting heavier as he worked out most of the blows had been targeted to this side of Zuko's face.

They wouldn't be staying here much longer. Not if Aang could help it. He knew enough waterbending to get by, he'd be fine.

As soon as Aang had finished peering down Zuko's shirt, with a lot of complaints, and finding nothing but a few cuts, no bruises, they focused back on the front of the room. Already, while Aang had been busy, Arnook and the Masters had been hard at work discussing something or other. Katara's brother was back, hanging back with her where she'd been bade to stay before. While Katara looked murderous, on the edge of her seat, ready to leap into the fray, Sokka didn't seem all that bothered.

Keeping a hand on Zuko Aang ignored the Masters completely, needing to know, "Just exactly what have you been up to?"

Katara didn't have the sense not to answer.

Everything started after Aang had took off into the sky. Katara had been trying to tell Aang, as she did now, that she was, in fact, a waterbender. With Aang coming to the South Pole, to them, looking for a waterbending teacher she'd thought it was destiny and, after trying to run away in the night, ended up with her Gran Gran shoving Sokka in a boat and forcing him to catch up to Katara. Thus started their grand adventures to the North Pole.

Their first stop was one of the Earth Islands to buy supplies. As would be the custom, they ended up in a spot of trouble, namely because they were asking around if the people there had seen the Avatar... They just blatantly said it. Suddenly Aang got a sense of what Zuko must have felt when Aang told Sokka in the South Pole.

Anyway, danger, adventure, telling everyone the Avatar existed, Katara had put it upon herself, Sokka insisted, that the whole reason he'd told them in the first place was because he wanted to spark hope and rebellion amongst the freedom fighters in the Earth Kingdom. Another something that got them into more danger.

They almost got caught a few times. Some General in the Fire Navy had started tailing them. Zao or something. They were making port on an island near the Fire Nation when they came across a poster mourning a face that had appeared in the South Pole a few months ago. Zuko's.

Putting together the brief firebending move Zuko had taught Aang, the mask that Zuko had been wearing when he first came to the South Pole, they thought Zuko had been tricking Aang, pretending to befriend him then handing him over to the Fire Nation. Exactly how Zuko had described Pakku actually, although, in Katara's case the Fire Nation was rather worse than being imprisoned by a Water Tribe.

They'd raced over here after that, telling Arnook straight away about Zuko's 'plot' and happily pointing him out when they spotted him.

Aang felt like scratching his skin off when Katara was done. "You've basically blown any chance we have of me learning earthbending in secret now."

"I was only trying to help."

"Well you haven't."

"Hey," Sokka interrupted, placing a calming hand between all of them, "Look, we made a mistake. It's done. There's nothing we can do to rectify it. So can we please focus on this approaching Fire Navy now?"

Aang took a deep breath. Sokka was right, they couldn't undo it. Releasing it, he said, "We'll leave. It's me they're after so, if they see me leaving they'll have to follow."

"No," Arnook interjected, looking to have been listening in on their conversation.

"What about your studies?" Master Haruk.

"We can't leave," Zuko said, the last person Aang would have thought asking to stay.

"What do you mean? We have to. It's the only way to save the North Pole." Unless they could magically stop the Fire Nation in their tracks.

"You don't understand," Zuko sighed, looking more defeated the longer he stood there, "The reason they've ignored the Poles until now is because they weren't a threat. They had nothing of value to them. If they even suspect that you're here, which they do now," he directed at Katara, "They'll be coming to invade." Not capture. Invade.

"But-"

"They're harbouring you. They're defying the Fire Nation just by speaking to you. If they think the North Pole is their enemy they'll want to make an example. If water girl here is right then she's been spreading word of rebellion to all corners of the Earth Kingdom. That, and the North siding with you is only going to make my Grandfather mad. If my father isn't on one of those naval ships right now I'll be surprised."

"So… so…" There was no point in running. Not unless Aang wanted to live with the idea of letting a group of people fend for themselves, just like the air nomads. He had the power to help. He'd missed one fight, he wasn't going to miss another. This was what he'd promised himself, what he'd told Zuko he would do. They had to do this.

"There's also something else. If Zao really is the one that's been tailing you then he's after more than just the North. Him and my father used to talk. They used to laugh at my uncle when he talked about spirits, then one day it all changed and both of them stopped. There were rumours Zao had discovered the moon spirit's physical form."

"That doesn't sound good."

Zuko shook his head, "I don't know what he plans on doing with it, but if he does get a hand on a spirit it's not just the North Pole we need to worry about."

"Strange how you know so much about this Zao guy," Katara said.

Aang dug his nails in Zuko's arm, "Just because he's not with them now doesn't mean he was both blind and death when he was." He took another deep breath. He was going to have to fight. Really fight. He'd never done that before.

"Then we should start preparations for war immediately." Arnook spoke up before more quarrelling could break out. "Avatar," he said with a bow, "I hope you don't mind us moving your quarters. While Master Haruk is an extremely capable Master, I fear you'll need someone with a heavier hand to guide you. Master Pakku has agreed to take over your studies."

They weren't leaving, and as much as Aang would have liked to shove their offer of teaching him in their face he would be an idiot not to take advantage of all he could get. Not now. Still, "And Zuko?" it was nice being able to say his real name out loud again.

Arnook glanced down again, nodding, "So long as he has a guard I have no problem with him staying with you. Sokka," he called over, the rest of them getting back to their war planning.

Master Pakku, of whom Zuko was more familiar with than Aang, came over after a few seconds of talk. With a swift once over he told them to follow him, taking them first to Haruk's to gather their things before introducing them to their new abode. Unsurprisingly, the rules were the same here as they were in Haruk's, and both of them even got that odd look when illicit activities were brought up.

"What do you think that's about?" Aang sighed, flopping back onto one of the, two, beds they had here.

Zuko didn't take the other, instead dumping his blankets to the gap Aang made for him, falling back just as boneless. It wasn't as drafty here as it was in Haruk's, but the ice walls were still ice and if Aang had problems regulating his own body's heat he too would be avoiding sleeping alone.

"They think we're married," Zuko mumbled after a while.

Aang had honestly thought he was asleep, and had been on his own merry way there. Now he wasn't. "Married! Why would they think that?" Although it did explain a few of Aang's interactions now that he thought about it.

Zuko raised one floppy hand up, tapping his fingers on the cloth that wrapped around Aang's neck. "You know how you wanted a little pin so you would blend in?"

Aang nodded. He'd seen it on Katara's in the South, and on a few other people's necks when they came to the North. He'd all but begged Zuko to help him make a little pin to stick on the cloth around his own neck just so he wouldn't be left out of this fashion trend.

"It's a betrothal necklace," Zuko said. "And since we came here together, and I may have been a little touchy with you," sticking his claws in so Aang wouldn't blow their cover more like, "They think we're married."

"Huh."

He didn't know what else to say to that. The whole reason he had that strap of cloth was so that it hid the part of his neck the bandana and his clothes wouldn't. He considered taking it off now but, maybe keeping it on was beneficial. It was keeping Zuko out of the dungeons, and with them only having a guard.

One who swiftly announced his presence by banging their door open and dumping his stuff on, Aang now realised, his bed. "Okay guys, here's the rules. No funny business, at all. Not even if I'm asleep. No trying to sneak a peak at me when I'm changing," Sokka ticked off his first two fingers, "And if I even feel a flicker of fire I'm setting Boomer on you." He held up his boomerang to enforce his threat.

"Okay," Aang agreed after a moment. He wondered, briefly, why they hadn't set a bender on them. It would make more sense. But, they probably thought being in a school of benders was enough of a threat. Especially because they were all probably better at waterbending than Aang. "I'm Aang by the way."

"I know," Sokka huffed, "You only said so seven times when we first met. Not to mention Katara's been going on and on about you for months. Believe me, I know who you are."

There was silence, Aang purposefully keeping his face away as Sokka changed out of his clothes.

Around the time the sheets settled on Sokka's side a hand was thrust between the beds. "Sokka," he introduced.

Aang shook the hand, "It's nice to meet you Sokka."

Sokka hummed, not exactly in disagreement. "Could you ask Sparky to get the lights, I can't be bothered to get up."

"He's not calling me sparky," Zuko growled, but blew the candles out without so much as moving.

Sokka turned out to be a funny guy that life had dealt a bad hand too. He reminded Aang a lot of Zuko. If Zuko actually smiled once in a while. It was probably why they were so similar that they wouldn't let the other so much as breathe without having something to say about it. By the end of day one in Master Pakku's school Aang's head was done in.

It didn't help that they now had the best seats at the table. Aang felt like he was being gawked at and actually missed the easy smiles the little kids in Haruk's would give him when they didn't have a clue who he was.

Cabin fever was setting in and it was setting in hard. With Zuko not allowed to go out, and definitely not allowed to the training yard after everyone was finished training he was getting more and more restless and a restless Zuko was a moody Zuko. Sokka, Aang didn't know all that much about, but his bravado that he'd shown at the South Pole was missing as he sat there for hours on end watching the waterbenders train. Aang didn't want to say resentment, but there was some kind of discomfort there as he swung his boomerang again and again and again as he too had nothing else to do here.

Aang was just. He was tired, plain and simple. Pakku took over Aang's studies himself. Meaning no longer was Aang learning at a pace that actually matched his skill level. He was being floored time after time until he was walking to lunch or dinner with a limp.

Meditation was a no go that night. As was lying on his back.

"Do you think your fire hands could rub some feeling back into my butt?" Aang whined, face down on his pillow, "I fell on it so much I'm not sure it's still there."

"I'm not rubbing your butt," Zuko grumbled.

It took effort to lift his head from the pillow, employing the best pitiful look he could Zuko's way. "Please?"

"Hey!" Came from the other side of the room, "What did I say, no… canoodling, in here."

Aang stopped asking, suffering in silence until he got up the next morning to do it all again. Except, when he got to the training ring his second morning with Pakku Katara was there as well. Aang thought it was a mistake but, apparently a lot had happened in the few days they'd been here as Katara was, in fact, a student.

"You can take the morning off," she told Sokka, "I'm sure between us we can take care of hothead here if he tries anything."

"Are you sure, you seem sure, you know what, you're sure, I'll see you later," Sokka rushed out, boomerang already stowed and running towards the exit.

"What do you think he's so excited about?" Zuko mumbled.

"None of your business that's what," Katara snapped, moving off before Zuko could bark back at her.

It was going to be a long day.


	8. Chapter 8

By lunch, Aang had been flattened and frozen in ice so many times he was starting to hate the sight of it. His bending was improving, if only because his self preservation instincts were screaming at him to take notice or die. His only consolation had been that Katara, too, was a beginner, but, unlike him, she actually did well defending against Pakku.

"Here," Zuko set a bowl next to him, sitting down himself. "You're going to have to get up at some point. Pakku wants round seventeen."

He didn't think his throat was capable of making the sound that actually came out at that idea. "I think he hates me."

"He doesn't," Zuko promised, "He's just worried and wants you to do well."

"Well he has a painful way of showing it." he pushed himself up, gobbling down the sweet cakes.

As soon as he'd finished licking the plate clean Zuko hoisted him up. "Come on, basics. As my tutors used to tell me, if you master the basics you master the element."

Zuko went over them with him, Aang knowing he was purposefully getting them wrong just so Aang could feel better. It was working, correcting Zuko's footing giving him a little boost of confidence that he was ready for the next round of beatings.

Until he was on his back again feeling his skin blacken every second he lay there.

He got a short break, hiding behind Zuko as Katara unleashed her skills on Pakku. If he managed to persuade Zuko to use his magic warm hands to rub some of the pain out of his back that was just an added bonus.

Then Zuko's hands were gone, and when Aang looked back half his body was frozen in a block of ice, Katara not looking sorry in the least as she released him. "Guess I need a little more practice," she said.

"More prac-"

Zuko was up before Aang could finish, sending a warning burst of fire her way, "You want to fight me, then fight." He sent more and like the spitball Aang was gathering Katara was she didn't back down from Zuko's challenge.

In mere minutes the practice yard was full of fire and water, Pakku doing nothing. Not until Zuko, used to fighting without bending, snuck in past Katara's defences and was about to land a proper blow. Only then did Pakku shift the ice and stop Zuko in his tracks.

"An interesting fighting style," Pakku said, staring Katara down in case she tried something else, "However this ring is used for teaching, not for quarrels so if you could take a seat Prince Zuko and tell the Avatar to prepare himself for another round of bending."

Feet back on solid ground Zuko slunk back to his seat with a short bow to Master Pakku. Aang almost wished he'd let the fight go on a little longer.

"Ow," Aang whined, shirt off and showing off his bruises. If he turned purposefully Zuko's way it was pure coincidence, "My back," he wiggled a little more.

"What part of I'm not that good at bending do you not understand?" While he'd rubbed Aang's back earlier he hadn't actually warmed his hands like Kuzon could when Aang had been younger.

Still, "I don't need your bending, just rub the bruises until they don't hurt anymore."

"Can't you?" Zuko sighed.

Aang tried to twist his hands to where it hurts, flopping onto the bed when he couldn't, "I don't twist that way."

He gave Zuko a few more pitiful looks before they paid off and with the moodiest look Zuko had given him yet, he sat purposefully hard on Aang's bruised up thighs and did his best to knead the bruises on Aang's back.

"Such a good husband," Aang sighed, feeling the knees tense on his thighs.

"You're making this weird."

"Always takes care of me," Aang continued. Zuko's legs relaxed again, his amusement taking precedence over his irritation. "Even if he made an awful betrothal necklace."

"Awful!" The hands stopped, reaching around Aang's neck to grab the pendant and turn it so it was facing Zuko. "You made that- what is it?"

In truth, Zuko had only warmed up the metal enough to make it into a circle, the rest Aang had painstakingly carved so "It's Appa." Or, it was supposed to be. Really it looked like a weird blob, but Aang knew what it was and would continue to say it was Appa no matter how much Zuko thought it looked like a pile of mud.

He whacked Zuko's hands off his necklace, "Back to my bruises."

"You know, if you spent some time in the healing halls you wouldn't even have bruises by now."

"If I had time I probably would have went there." But there was an army coming and, honestly no one was really interested in the healing stuff when they just wanted Aang to fight.

"Maybe after we fight the Fire Nation off."

"Maybe."

Zuko kept quiet as he started again on Aang's back. It wasn't easy, as it was before, Aang could practically taste the guilt in the air, and while he would have liked to tell Zuko the invasion wasn't his fault Zuko wouldn't have listened. Aang had tried before, and still Zuko got that sad look on his face whenever word of the Fire Nation reached their ears. So he focused on Zuko's magic hands instead.

How, when Zuko reached for Aang's neck his hips forced Aang's into the mattress. The pressure in his neck was slightly uncomfortable, Zuko definitely not having a future as a masseur, but the other pressure wasn't unwanted. He was seventeen after all. A good looking guy who'd bathed himself earlier in oils Arnook had sent to apologize for his less than stellar welcome party. It was certainly working for him.

He just hoped Zuko didn't realize how much.

He should probably stop saying, "Such a good husband," if he wanted to do that however.

He was in the middle of doing so again when Sokka returned from wherever he'd been wandering. One glance in and he was freaking out, telling them outright, "No, no, what was rule number one? Rule number one guys!"

A cough came from behind Sokka.

"Oh, and Master Pakku wants to see you Zuko." Hands covering his eyes he felt his way to the bed.

Pakku wasn't as squeamish as Sokka when he stuck his head in, just quirked his lips at the bruises Aang knew he was seeing and nodding his head out. Zuko followed, Aang wondering if he should go too but, "Just the Prince, Avatar," Pakku said. "Don't worry, you'll get him back later tonight."

The door closed leaving Aang and Sokka to their own devices. Aang waited a few minutes before gently turning on his side, Sokka giving him a knowing look. "It's not that I don't support you getting one over on the Fire Nation, I just don't wanna see that." Sokka held his hands up before Aang could speak, "I know, I know, it's not like that. But if his dad found out the Avatar's his son in law you wanna bet he's gonna be in more trouble than he is now."

"Don't think that's possible," Aang said. He still didn't know the exact reasoning behind Zuko being here and not with his family but it couldn't have been good, or easy. Certainly not painless. Best to change the subject. "How was your day?"

To that, Sokka grew a dreamy look, the shrug he gave not even reaching his chin, "It was okay."

"Well your sister started a fight."

Sokka scoffed, falling to his pillows, "'Course she did. How bad was it?"

Aang pointed to the door, "Well Master Pakku has the other fighter so, I don't know. Kind of bad? No one got hurt, but I think Zuko scarred a few kids for life firebending like that."

Sokka nodded, the guy easier to talk to now they had a neutral topic and he'd got some outside time. Mostly he talked about his sister, filling in the gaps where Katara hadn't yesterday. An interesting, neutral topic. Definitely better than a few minutes alone would have been.

He fell asleep before Zuko was returned, woken when it was dark by someone climbing over him. "You 'live?" he held his arms open, surprised when Zuko curled into them instead of pretending he wasn't interested and sneaking over when Aang was asleep.

"Just about."

"Wha' he wan'?"

A huff against Aang's shoulder. "I'll tell you in the morning."

Aang didn't really remember in the morning Zuko coming in, so he was actually surprised to wake snug around Zuko's back.

The hours ticked away. Pakku, it turned out, had stolen Zuko away to ask where he'd learned to bend like he did against Katara. When Zuko told him he'd mostly stole from other styles Pakku had asked if he wanted to join practices.

"He knows some firebending forms," Zuko told him as he wrapped his own hands. "I guess he's fought firebenders before."

He had scrolls, it turned out. Ones he brought from the library and had Zuko study as he battered Aang for a few hours. After, when Katara's turn came, he had Aang study with Zuko, the two of them figuring out the firebending forms until Zuko, since Aang was still banned according to the prince from firebending himself, could produce some form of fire.

As was their pattern. They got up, Aang got beat, he spent the afternoon helping Zuko, he slept. He saw a little bit of an improvement after a few days, and, honestly, if he'd had more time he was sure he'd improve even more after a month. But a week? The improvement was little and wouldn't be getting any better.

The fifth day, just as dinner had been called, the word got out that scouts had spotted Fire Nation ships cresting the start of the North Pole. They'd be here within a few days. The numbers weren't known, nor who was captaining them. What was known was that they were there and they were coming.

The war council was called immediately, dinner brought to them in the council's chambers. Zuko had been barred from the meeting, a fact Aang wanted to complain about but, simply didn't have the time to. Sokka and Katara had a seat, a fact Aang was itching to bring up, but then war plans got started and Aang honestly didn't have anything else to focus on.

His head hurt by the time he was let out. Hours had passed, Aang was convinced almost a day, and he wanted nothing better than to sleep but, when he actually lay on his bed his mind wouldn't let him rest.

"I'm not rubbing your back," whispered into the room.

"Didn't ask you to." Although a back rub would be nice.

Zuko turned, his nose brushing against Aang's shoulder, "I'm worried."

Aang's neck turned so fast he was sure he heard something snap, "You're worried?"

"Believe it or not I've never actually fought anyone before." Aang did believe it. Zuko was a fighter, a survivor, but not a killer. If he could slip his way out of a scuffle he would, and those scuffles were never anything like this. They wanted to run Aang out of town, probably for his own good, not kill him.

"I haven't either. I don't want to kill anyone," He was raised to believe all life was sacred, he wasn't going to give that up now. He didn't know who he would be if he did.

"If it makes it easier," Came from the other bed, "They're all monsters."

"That doesn't make it easier."

Especially because Zuko didn't agree either, "Just because my family are monsters doesn't mean the people that follow them are. You think they're in the army voluntarily? I'm sure some of them are, but they've been brought up to bring honour to their families or not come home at all. Most are conscripted, and if you think it's easy to leave the Fire Nation army then you're fooling yourself. Only an idiot doesn't fear death and no one deserts the Fire Nation army. No one."

The punishment for desertion even in Aang's time had been execution. Back then the only thing they did was march around, maybe do a few performances. They were just there for show. There was nothing really at stake, and Aang couldn't help but wonder if the other punishments he'd heard of were still in force. The missing fingers for stolen extra rations. The tongues cut out of the spies and scouts so they wouldn't talk if caught.

War was brutal and not only on the Fire Nation's side. Aang had seen some of the same techniques used in the Earth Kingdom when he'd been a child.

There was a grumble then Sokka saying, "They're still evil."

"If that's what helps you sleep at night," Zuko sighed, head resting back in the nook of Aang's shoulder.

"It does," came quietly over to them. Maybe that was what Sokka had to say to himself. Maybe that's what a lot of people told themselves.

But not Aang. "They have lifeboats, right?"

Zuko shrugged, "If they bothered to do all the mandatory checks and procedures yes."

Then maybe Aang wouldn't have to kill anyone, just destroy their main battering rams. Yeah. That sounded better. He could work with that.

He turned, nosing into Zuko's soft hair and pretending they were riding on Appa, exploring again without the fear of an army on their backs.

Another day was spent in talks and all that had been decided was that Aang would be at the front lines with the rest of the waterbenders attempting to stop the Fire Navy from breaching the walls. Arnook kept talking about a secret mission he had in mind, but other than mentioning it he didn't go into depth.

The only thing they got decided that day was that, "We need to keep Zuko behind the walls." Aang had already been revealed to the world, and no one could really deny there was an airbender around thanks to Aang's adventures. But Zuko, "So far there's only Katara's word, and if we can keep Zuko hidden we can hold some advantage." Mainly, it was to keep Zuko safe, but even Aang knew having a Fire Royal on their side was an advantage they couldn't afford to lose. Zuko would know their formations, their ship structures, weaknesses. He'd know key players in the military, tidbits about them they could use to their advantage.

Needless to say Zuko wasn't too pleased with this turn of events. He didn't talk to Aang at all that evening, and even Sokka was telling the others in their last meeting about Aang's lovers tiff.

The Fire Navy was cresting the horizon when they got out that day. When they toured the wall Aang could see the dark splots in the sunset that would turn into ships by morning.

"Probably a good idea to make up," Sokka said, eyes distant as they walked back to their dorm. "Don't want to leave things unfinished."

"I guess."

Sokka certainly took his own advice, telling Aang he'd be back before midnight as he ran off towards the chief's hall again.

Zuko was using the rest of the oils they'd been gifted, the bottles gone from their shelf when Aang walked in. He got to the edge of his bed before deciding Zuko had the right idea and went to go find him in the hot springs.

One of the perks of living in a waterbending school was that they'd cracked how to keep water hot in a building full of ice. Aang greatly appreciated it, but not as much as Zuko. Naturally all the other kids had scampered now they knew Zuko was a firebender, it just meant more room for him.

Shedding his musty clothes, wondering if he could get them washed before the battle started, he cannonballed as hard as he could, breaching the water to find Zuko glaring murder back at him, his hair plastered to his scalp.

"Shouldn't you still be in a war council?"

"Shouldn't you have a sense of humour by now?"

He swam over to the bench, splashing more water on Zuko's pitiful attempts to smooth his hair out of his face. He stopped when Zuko grew really annoyed, leaning his head back onto the ice to try and spot where Zuko hid those bottles of oil.

"I did have an ulterior motive for coming down here," Aang said, dragging the first bottle he found over to himself. "I need you to look after something for me."

"If you're going to say Momo, forget it. Last I heard he was terrorizing the fishermen, stealing their catch and bringing it back to Appa." Quite the partners in crime the two had become.

"I mean, yeah, look after Momo," Although if Momo saw Aang flying tomorrow there was a good chance he would follow. "But," he untied the cloth around his neck, "Keep the symbol of our undying love safe for when I come back?"

"You're the worst," Zuko huffed, snatching the necklace anyway. "I could just make you another one. We don't even need one."

"But I like it." Even if people thought they were married. It wasn't the worst thing in the world, and it was only in the Northern Water tribe.

Zuko grumbled some more, but by the time they were walking back to their room he had Aang's necklace around his own throat.

When dawn rose, Sokka hadn't returned to his bed and the last moment of peace Aang had was piling the last of Zuko's blankets in the room they were keeping him in.

So much happened. They lost. Then they won. Then they lost. Then they won. Then they-

"It's okay." Katara, that was Katara behind him. She'd been the one to find him, to shake him awake and ask if he remembered what had happened. She'd been there as he'd looked not even two feet in front of him and saw the face of a dead Fire Nation sailor. "It's okay Aang, we won. We won."

He didn't remember it. He'd been aiming for their ships, then some Fire General had gotten in and-

He doesn't remember. He remembers nothing but a feeling of hatred so intense it lingered in his bones.

The moon shone bright above them, but the energy he'd always felt from the moon was off. People were cheering around him, crying, all of them relieved but this man was dead.

He was pulled onto something soft, the collar of Katara's clothes tickling his skin as she held him close. "It's okay," she said.

Aang didn't feel okay.


	9. Chapter 9

He was taken inside at some point, Aang hearing the crowds around him shout his name in victory. But all he saw were the bodies. They weren't there, physically, only a handful of men had gotten in past their defences someone said, but Aang saw them. He saw their spirits fall from the ceiling as they'd fell from their boats, their faces contorting as the icy sea crushed their bones and left no survivors.

"We were lucky," someone said, "If Prince Zuko had been right I doubt we would be calling victory right now."

"Always looking at the downside Pakku. We won, enjoy it."

"If Ozai had been there…"

More bodies fell from the ceiling, the world around him full of nothing but angry roars, waves crashing against shores, tearing down boats. Whatever it was it didn't feel victory. It, unlike these people, didn't see the Fire Navy's defeat as something to celebrate.

Warm hands lifted his head, tying something around his neck that fell with a small clunk when they were done. He didn't hear what they had to say, just went where they led him, sat where they sat him and rested his head where they let him.

"I think I killed someone."

Warm hands on his head, fingers on his arrows, chasing the lines that still felt on fire.

He fell asleep, waking to sun on his back and Appa under his chest and Momo screaming in his ear.

"Well I don't think that's helping anyone," a gruff voice said.

"Zuko?"

It wasn't Zuko. When Aang turned around he saw Sokka instead leaning his face into Appa's saddle having quite the staring match at Momo. It was broken when Momo started screaming again, scurrying over to curl himself around Aang's shoulder.

"Your boyfriend is at the chief's hall." Boyfriend? Right, Zuko. "He told me to keep an eye on you."

Aang nodded getting comfy again on Appa. He didn't feel much like getting up, and if Zuko was okay then there was no need to. No need to see how much he'd destroyed. How many people were having funerals prepared for them. How many were being left in the ocean outside the city walls.

"Gotta say, that's some guy you bagged there." There was a timbre to Sokka's voice, something different than there was- yesterday? Two days ago? How long had this whole thing started?

"Yeah, Zuko's something." Moody, kind and hated cold places.

"I mean, when I saw those swords in action I thought he was on their side, but then the guy just started cutting soldiers down. He got blasted like ten times and still got back up. I don't even know how he got out of his room, I thought they put him behind four solid blocks of ice."

"Yeah he's…" he didn't remember seeing Zuko out there. Then again, everything after the breach of the wall was a blur.

"Makes you think what that guy's made out of."

"Half anger half determination," Aang answered absentmindedly. Zuko had been there. Aang could have killed him. If he doesn't remember what he did then what's to say him, in that state, would even recognise Zuko.

He felt sick. Even more than he was before. He held his hand over his eyes, trying his hardest not to cry.

Pointless anyway since Sokka saw. He heard the man climb over Appa's saddle. "Hey, hey," he grabbed Aang's hands, "It's okay."

"I think I killed someone."

He saw a blurry Sokka nod, "I think you killed a lot of people."

Aang choked out a laugh, "That's not helping."

"No, guess it's not." he lay down next to Aang, "Er, look, we don't know what went on the other night. All we do know is that you stopped the Fire Nation from invading another part of the world. If you hadn't, they would be here, killing far more than you probably did."

"That's still not helping," Aang sobbed. It wasn't about the greater good, it was about the fact that Aang didn't want to be a killer.

But, wasn't that what he was supposed to be?

"All life is sacred."

"And all aspects of life," Sokka countered.

Momo started screaming again, patting Aang's head as he curled up even tighter. Sokka didn't try and make him feel better again. Instead, he merely rubbed Aang's back and let him cry it out.

The sun was beginning to set when a dark head of hair climbed up Appa. Zuko's face didn't look hurt, but the way he was holding himself spoke of some aches and pains. Aang supposed he should be mad. Zuko had defied everyone and broke out to fight. But, Aang wasn't. He wouldn't have let them keep him locked up either.

Strangely Katara was with him too, and while seeing her wasn't strange, the fact she wasn't snapping at Zuko was. "You're awake."

Aang curled up tighter. He wasn't in the mood to make small talk. Momo screamed in approval, patting Aang the little bit harder. It was kind of helping.

Katara cooed, "That's so sweet Momo. Are you trying to sing like Zuko."

That, at least, set order back to normal, Zuko snapping, "I was not singing."

"Well Momo's picked up on something."

He let them fight, Aang rather liked Momo's singing now he knew what the lemur was doing. When it got dark enough to be considered night, Appa alerted them all he was going to sleep, and at least two people followed his lead, Katara and her brother going back to the chief's hall to look for food.

It was a peaceful evening after that. Full of self loathing and Aang listening to Zuko singing when the man thought Aang was asleep. Something about the Four Seasons. It was nice.

Naturally it wasn't Aang that was the little spoon when he woke. Zuko, since they were sleeping outside, had made it his sworn duty to wrap as much of Aang around him as possible. Even then he was still shivering, and with one last minute relaxing on Appa, Aang did his best to wrap Zuko up and carry him inside.

They'd cleaned up the bodies. The blood was still etched into the ice however and Aang didn't want to think about how many of those rooms next to his own were empty. Their nest of blankets were still there, so no one had infiltrated Pakku's school. It wasn't the best of thoughts, seeing somewhere untouched, but it wasn't the worst either.

He set Zuko down, stretching off the aches of doing nothing for who knew how many days and went in search of breakfast. Sokka and Katara were up when Aang checked the chief's hall. A bowl of food in their laps they were looking over a map, or had been before spotting Aang.

"You're up," Katara made some room for him, "I'll get you some food, you must be starving."

"I know I am," Sokka attempted to say through his mouthful of jerky. "How are you feeling?"

Aang shrugged, "Bad. Annoyed because I know everyone's seeing this as a victory, annoyed at myself for not seeing this as a victory. Sad because some of those men and women Zuko might have known, and when I think about Zuko knowing them it reminds me that they have lives too, that they're not faceless monsters. Sad because I know Zuko's sad and instead of dealing with it he's had to babysit me because I've spent who knows how long dead to the world." He took a deep breath, "But I'll be okay."

He glanced up, catching the two of them sharing a look, Sokka swallowing carefully before asking, "You sure?"

He nodded, "Things have changed, and this won't be the only battle I'll fight so," he shrugged. There was nothing he had in mind to finish that thought. But he did know he had to push past this somehow. Not embrace it, but learn from it.

Firstly he had to keep his strength up, which meant breakfast.

Secondly he had to figure out just how he was going to break it to Chief Arnook that he couldn't stay. But that could wait until after breakfast. After dinner even. The chief was a busy man, and Aang did need to learn more waterbending.

The week Aang was actually awake for after the battle was odd. Some people went on like nothing had happened. Pakku actually knocked on Aang's door the second day he was awake, informing him that tardiness would not be overlooked and spent the rest of the day beating Aang into the ground. Katara didn't really change either. She had more spunk than anyone there, calling out challenges no one wanted to take up while Sokka called them babies from the sides.

Then there were the people that were impacted. The funerals happened on an evening, when Aang was eating dinner. He never saw them, but he heard them. He heard those outside Pakku's walls crying, some of them cursing. Mostly he saw Zuko sneak away. At first Aang had thought it was in fear they would come for him. Then he went looking for Zuko when Aang couldn't find him in their rooms. It turned out he'd been sneaking past the wall, stealing a boat and fishing bodies of Fire Navy soldiers out for proper burials.

"I asked if they would help," Zuko told him, catching his eye in the darkness,daring him to say something, tell him not to bother, probably like Arnook had. "Arnook said the best he could do was turn a blind eye if I stole a boat."

It was hard to see, the moon hidden behind clouds and Zuko's tiny flame doing more to keep him warm than shed light. But Aang could see some shapes, and when he dipped his toe into the ocean he could feel more. "I'll get Appa. We'll work faster if you don't have to row everywhere."

It was hard work, but every evening Aang followed Zuko out, his back aching and bruised from a day of training to hunt down the bodies in the water. One by one they took them to the snow drifts around the back of the North Pole, Zuko searching their uniforms until he came across their personal items. With every name he found he added it to a list. "Just in case," he told Aang.

Just in case the Fire Nation thought they were merely missing. In case they told their families there was still a chance they were out there. No one should live with false hope, and when Aang could feel no more in the water, when they scoured the ice and came up empty, Aang helped Zuko break into the Aviary and send a bird to Ba Sing Se.

"They'll know you're alive," Aang said, the pair of them watching the bird fly off from the wall.

"Maybe. Or maybe they'll think the Water Tribe has more honour than they thought."

They stayed three more weeks. Long enough for Aang to grow antsy. It wasn't just that walking the streets reminded him of dark dreams where a spirit used him to drag people to their deaths. More like, with every second they stayed there he felt stagnant. His bending was improving, but what of the others. He still wasn't allowed to learn firebending, and he'd not even started earthbending. If he didn't start, how could he master it? If he couldn't master it, what hope did he have of restoring peace before he ended up dying of old age?

He wanted to leave. Hoped he could steal a teacher to take with him. But every time he so much as brought up the topic of travelling Arnook changed the subject. First it was Yue, who Aang hadn't actually noticed was gone until Sokka snapped at dinner that they could at least have had a longer mourning period for a princess. Then talk was turned to Katara. His studies. At one point Aang was sure he was having a conversation about his so called marriage. None of which what he really wanted to be talking about.

Eventually he figured they may as well try and sneak out. "It's for their own good," he said, more to himself than Zuko. "The longer I stay here the more they're in danger of being attacked again."

"That's exactly why they want you around." Zuko had already put his things on Appa. Had done when he'd dragged Aang onto Appa after the battle. He wanted to think it was Zuko being restless, like him, but, with the less than stellar welcome and the fact people outright spat on his feet now, despite fighting on their side, there was a good chance it was something else driving Zuko to be prepared to run.

"I know." He knew they were using him. "But if I leave then the Fire Nation has no reason to come back here. They won't need me."

Zuko scoffed at that.

"What?"

"Just that you believe you're the only prize up here now. A few years ago, if you'd resurfaced, maybe leaving the North Pole would turn their eyes away from it. But, grandfather is more powerful than ever, he has the Earth army under his control and my father breathing down his neck. Do you know how much my father resents my uncle? He was hoping Uncle Iroh would fail. He even sent assassins after Lu Ten's troup in the hopes his loss would make Uncle give up."

Again, proof Aang really didn't want to meet Zuko's family.

"With Ba Sing Se my Uncle became one of the greatest generals in Fire Nation history. My father is itching to add his name to that list, and the North Pole is the only part of this world left unconquered. Sure, he helped make the last of the Earth Kingdom surrender, but it's no city under his rule. It doesn't matter if you leave Aang, the North Pole has declared itself a formidable enemy. If they haven't returned within the next few months I'll be surprised."

The hood he'd been attempting to stuff into a bag fell uselessly as Aang realised the truth in Zuko's words. "We can't leave."

Except, "We can, and we will."

"But you just said-"

"Yes," he took Aang's hood off him actually managing to fit it into the bag, "Which is why we need to find you an earthbending teacher. If we stay my father will kill you. If we run, the North Pole will fall, but as my uncle liked to say sometimes things need to fall in order to be rebuilt better."

Not for the first time Aang wondered, "How can someone so evil be so wise?"

Zuko shrugged, "He's well travelled?"

Which didn't really answer anything.

"I know it's a big ask," Zuko said, "But staying here means accepting defeat. You're the one who wanted to do this Aang, I was happy floating around until we finally settled down in some shabby hut in the middle of nowhere." He grabbed a few more of their things Aang had yet to pack up, stuffing them as only someone who'd never had to pack for most of their life could. Finished, he took Aang's arm, insisting, "You don't need their forgiveness. But if you want it, I'm sure they'll give it to you."

They tied down the bags with rope in case they needed to make some quick turns. Sneaking about, they grabbed as many provisions as they could, counting the coins they'd made between them until they had a rough estimate of how long it would last them. When they did one last check, making sure they had everything, Aang grabbed Momo and they went back to Appa.

Only to find they had two stowaways.

"Are we even stowaways if you haven't left yet?" Sokka asked.

"How did you-?"

Sokka quirked a brow, "Dude, we've literally been sharing a room. I notice when things go missing. Like him."

Zuko whacked the offending finger on his way up, "Speaking of missing," He held his hand out, Aang surprised to see his mask changing hands.

"Wait, you brought that?"

"How do you think he fought the Fire Nation?" Sokka asked. "Now are we going because I think Katara woke Pakku when she was stealing the waterbending scrolls."

"That was you!"

Needless to say, Sokka got whacked again and Aang was so confused but desperate to leave that he didn't question just why they were there until they were at least a mile away from the North Pole.

"You need a waterbending teacher," Katara said, simple as.

"Aren't you still learning?" Zuko asked.

"Funny from a guy who's still learning the basics."

Zuko came to sit next to Aang, his hands going that little bit whiter as they clutched to Appa's fur. "He's right though Katara. You're not a master," Aang pointed out.

"Well," She lost some of her fire, "No, but, I have scrolls, and I know more than you. I'm sure between the two of us we can figure it out. Besides," she grumbled, "It's not like the Fire Nation knows waterbending. No one's going to be criticising us."

Debatable.

"Look," Sokka said, "I don't know about her, but I spent months chasing you around the world and I did not do that just to be ditched in the North Pole. We're in this together now buddy."

Aang wanted to say something, maybe tell them he could always drop them off back home but, it had been so long since he'd had friends. Maybe he could keep them for a while. He wasn't planning on getting in any more fights, and, so long as they managed to keep Katara from blabbing he was the Avatar, there was no reason they couldn't keep a low profile.

So, mouth shut and smile facing forward, he focused on getting them away from the ocean that haunted his nightmares and towards greener paths.

Travelling with two more people was interesting. They were loud. Louder than Aang was used to anyway. They fought too, Zuko not looking too bothered by it, but Aang often had times where he'd sit there and ask if it was normal for siblings to be so aggressive with each other.

Turned out probably since they kept on doing it.

Around the time they got to the first of the colonies they got the map out and made Sokka recall just where exactly him and Katara would be noticed if they set foot there again.

Turns out a lot of places.

Between that, and the villages Aang had revealed his airbending to there weren't many places left they could go in search of an earthbending teacher.

"Omashu's probably got a few left," Aang said one evening.

Katara wasn't even listening, too busy trying to teach Momo how to sit for a treat. The other two were giving Zuko's broadswords, Zuko's mask firmly in place now they were in dangerous territory. Aang had to admit he kind of hated that thing now. He understood the reason for it, but, with it on Zuko was quiet again. He didn't make snarky comments, leaving that to Sokka these days, didn't go into a mood, the only indication Aang had that he was even toeing Zuko's bad side were the careful breaths he'd trained himself to listen for. It was like taking three steps back.

He tugged on his necklace, the material getting kind of itchy now they were in a warmer environment. That motion, at least, got Katara's attention, her quest to get Momo to be a more civilised lemur abandoned as she came to sit next to him at last.

"You okay?" Eyes flickering over to where Sokka had a sword to his throat. Again.

"Fine," he huffed, "Just thinking about earthbending. Omashu and Ba Sing Se are our best bets. I know the Fire Nation are putting benders into camps but there's gotta be some people in hiding."

"Right, earthbending," she glanced over the map, "You know there are islands we haven't explored yet. I say we go there first before making any big decisions about the Earth Kingdoms."

Of those islands there were only seven Aang would say they would be able to tread undisturbed. Still, "I guess." It was better than putting their lives in danger when they didn't need to be.

"And not every island we went to ran us out I'll have you know." She folded the map up for him, eyes glancing to Aang's neck, "Now are you going to tell me what you're really upset about or am I supposed to guess? 'Cause right now I'm thinking pale moody and wearing a mask."

He rolled his eyes, "It's nothing."

"Sure." Her eyes were still on his neck, "You know, I can't even think what it must be like to be married at your age. Sokka's Zuko's age and he's no more mature than a baby polar dog. If you're having trouble, it's okay to talk to someone about it."

"Right." Because that was still a thing. Maybe he should start wearing it around his wrist. Did that have any special connotation? Divorce? Expecting children? Whatever the case, "I'm not upset. Just a little sad. Zuko was finally being himself and now he has to go back to," he waved his hand out, the silent Blue Spirit who did his firebending in secret and fought with nothing but swords striking out again until Sokka was on his butt.

"You guys made it work before."

"I guess," Aang sighed, thinking of long nights talking to himself.

"And hey, maybe Prince Hothead doesn't do it for me, but quiet mask guy? Gotta say he's growing on me."

That garnered a laugh out of him, "You only like it because he won't snap back at you in that thing."

Katara shrugged, not denying anything, "Must make fighting easier. I bet you win every time when he's wearing it."

Aang gave a short hum. He didn't really care about winning fights. So long as Zuko actually participated in them he'd let the guy scream all he liked.

They packed up the next morning, after Zuko had stolen his blade back from Sokka, making their way to one of the islands Katara had pointed out the night before. The temptation to make a few pit stops, maybe go looking for some platypus bears, was particularly strong when they passed a few heavily wooded areas. It was practically routine at this point to stop and have fun when Aang saw something that could hold animals inside. But, they weren't on their year of freedom right now. There was no Gyatso waiting for Aang back home. Or Bumi in Omashu. There was just destiny, and Aang trying to find his place in that destiny.

Also Zuko and Katara refused to make any pit stops. Even so much as bringing up the idea of having lunch on the ground had Zuko warning Katara that if they stopped now Aang would keep them grounded for a week looking for some kind of adventure. While Sokka thought that was a great idea, Katara was more inclined to agree with Zuko that an earthbending teacher was more important than having fun.

Adults.

The first island they went to was small. Smaller than small. It took Aang barely an hour to tour the whole place, and save a rather large fortress in the middle there was nothing and no one around.

It was agreed by everyone that perhaps pushing their luck and exploring the fortress was a bad idea. While it could be one of those bending prisons the Fire Nation were putting people into, it wasn't worth their freedom to break in.

That wasn't to say they wouldn't be coming back.

The next island they tried the people shut their doors just at the sight of newcomers. The question of why hung on the notice board and every post they went past. They didn't have a picture, per se, but there was a poster proclaiming anyone who has seen and does not report, harbours or even tries to help anyone they suspect of being an airbender will be executed on sight.

The temptation to stay, to help, was only quashed when Aang noticed the amount of empty houses there were already. His presence, even if he was trying to help, would only mean this islands complete extinction.

So they left.

The third island wasn't so much an island as part of the mainland that had grown outwards enough that only a small patch of land connected it to its former earth. The people were were friendlier than the last. That being they let Aang, Katara and Sokka barter for goods, but when it came to asking about earthbending, Aang soon found himself being chased out with fiery pitchforks.

Their fourth attempt at finding an earthbender they attempted to be a tad sneakier about it. In the sense that Aang didn't want to be chased away so soon and practically begged Katara for a short break. Just for one night. It didn't help that between all this island hopping they hadn't been able to set down to camp. Aang didn't like leaving Appa awake alone, and since they always landed at the new island the next morning after being chased out the evening before, he was tired. So very tired.

"My arrows are covered, we have a bit of money left, let's just ask for a room for the night and look in the morning."

Arms crossed, a look Aang was getting steadily more familiar with on her face Katara pointed out, "It's not even midday."

It wasn't. They'd landed just after sun up and after scouting the town for a little while they were back at Appa trying to make a game plan. Or, Katara was. Sokka was rooting through their supplies, Aang not sure there were even any left with the way he ate, and Zuko, well, he was napping with Appa like he usually did when they landed. Not for the first time Aang wished Zuko didn't have the excuse of being a bigger commodity than Aang, otherwise he would be forcing the man to come with them. Or maybe sending Zuko in his place so he could have some sweet blessed sleep.

"But I'm tired," he tried.

"We're all tired Aang. You think my feet aren't aching from running yesterday? But I'm pushing through it because this is important and you need to find yourself a teacher."

"But-" he meant literal tired.

"We can rest when we've finished checking these islands."

It wasn't any more prosperous than the last few, save for a market that made Aang angrier with every second they stood browsing. He didn't know if it was lack of sleep, frustration at his situation, or just the fact that they literally could stay here tonight if Katara wasn't insistent that they be by the next island in the morning but he hated this place. He had a literal bone deep hate for it and it was only getting worse.

It wasn't like he could go back to Zuko and Appa either. No, Aang had the money, and since it was his money, not Katara's or Sokka's despite the fact they were using it for food for themselves, they insisted he had to be there to approve their purchases.

Zuko looked rested when they got back before sunset. Or, Aang supposed he did, he couldn't tell with that mask still being on and all. Either way he didn't spare a word as a mumbled question about their search was asked, instead opting to climb on top of Appa and try to have a few minutes nap.

A few minutes turned out longer than he thought, Aang waking to the sun on his face and Katara packing their supplies for another adventure in this new town. Zuko was conked out on Appa's head when Aang looked, reigns in his lap.

Turns out Zuko was a big old softie underneath it all.

This town they went to was eerily like the second one. The people weren't welcoming at all, their houses and streets desolate as they hid from the outsiders. The Fire Nation had done their rounds here then, and the number of houses Aang did count being inhabited just went to show how many earthbenders there used to be here.

As they neared the beginning of the one long hill they saw an academy. Aang recognised the familiar columns and writing, seeing much the same in the North Pole and, before that, when he'd visited Bumi in Omashu. A bending school.

Only, the stone was cracked in parts, the writing defaced, and when Aang poked his head inside there were youngsters, but the curriculum wasn't bending. Instead he watched as kids sat in the open and answered questions about the glory of the Fire Nation.

They didn't look too happy to be doing it, but the amount of, Aang wouldn't call them guards, but definitely people with weapons standing guard over them had him skipping back to Sokka and Katara.

Was that what they would do to the North Pole? Or would it end up like the South. No schools, no people, just one tiny village struggling to survive?

The house up the hill was a dead end. Even if they thought there might be a bender inside it was too heavily guarded to even think about breaking in. The guards weren't Fire Nation, but they didn't look to be freedom fighters either. Most likely, if Aang was to believe Sokka, they were Earth Kingdom soldiers under Fire Nation rule, still independently hired but their reports would go to the same people as those men at the school.

"The next island then," Sokka sighed.

"Yeah."


	10. Chapter 10

He refused to let them drag him to the meagre stalls that were open to outsiders, and instead napped a few hours away under one of Appa's paws. It was a good sleep, one without nightmares or devoid of any dreams. Just floating, pleasant weird images of a flying boar.

"-I'll kill you!" Was the first echo of the outside world to breach Aang's ears.

His eyes opened to the same hot sun and fluffy paws, but the sounds around them had changed a, "Please, she's only a child. She's blind. Helpless. She's no threat to you."

"You're dead, you hear me," said a girl that definitely didn't sound helpless.

He climbed out of Appa's fur, spying the others already peeking over the cliff they'd set Appa down on. "What's going on?" he asked, crawling up to them.

"Earthbender," Sokka said, pointing to where a few so called Earth soldiers were dragging a metal container. Aang saw a small hand trying to grasp anything it could get its hand on, and if Aang hadn't seen the violent way it was flailing he would think she was scared. "I hope for their sakes they don't let her out before they get to the prison."

Aang snapped his head to Sokka's, "We're not seriously letting them take her are we?"

Sokka waved a hand, "Relax, burn boy's already on it." He pointed down to where a shadow was moving between the trees.

"Don't call him burn boy," Aang sighed, already feeling better. They were on it, they weren't going to let the Fire Nation just take a kid, Aang hadn't made the wrong choice.

"Fine. Mr Mask then."

The man actually bartering at this point with the soldiers was the girl, Toph's, father. He kept insisting because of her blindness of all things that she wasn't a threat, throwing money at the men in hopes his daughter would be magically released.

"You'd think she'd try and play up the part," Katara noted.

"She knows they're going to take her no matter what," Sokka said, "If it really mattered if she was helpless they wouldn't even have her in there."

Orders were orders was left unsaid between them, and Aang had never been happier then when he spied Zuko using Toph's father's distraction to drag the metal container closer to the treeline. He was good with locks, Aang remembered. Well, good with burning them off. But whatever works works since in under a few seconds Aang watched the lid, not open, but fly off its hinges, the girl lunging out and delivering on those threats she'd made in her prison.

She was, there were no other words, but amazing. Those soldiers stood no chance, and if her father had even a slither of a chance to get her off to hook of being helpless before that was long gone now as she imprisoned the soldiers in prisons so deep in the earth it was a wonder they were still breathing.

"Aw that's nice," Sokka said, the three of them watching father and daughter reunite.

Until said daughter brought a big wall of earth up between them, "Toph-" they heard.

"No, you don't get to hug me. You don't get to do anything to me. It's your fault I was put in there!"

"We were doing what was right." As if realising he was talking to a child the man straightened up, all fear gone as he insisted, "Chey was a good match for you."

"I'm fourteen! I shouldn't have a good match, and if you hadn't noticed Chey," she shook the earth, Aang smothering a laugh as he watched Zuko fall on his butt, "Is," another shake, "Fire Nation."

"And we are Beifong's," His voice lessened in tone, but Aang still heard him as he said, "I was not going to let our family be left behind in this new world."

"Well you're gonna have to," Toph said, that wall she made finally coming down and sailing straight towards her dad, "Cause I'm leaving."

Strangely she didn't seem to have any trouble knowing where she was going, she walked straight over to where Zuko was clinging to a tree, kicking his shin and muttering something.

Aang lost them in the foliage, but needn't have worried since they appeared on their cliff a while later.

"I heard you guys have a way off this place," Toph announced, no introduction, no nothing but striding past all three of them to hold a hand hesitantly out to Appa.

"He's a flying bison," Aang offered, not really knowing how to tread here. He glanced back at Zuko, still masked, and wondered just what he'd told her. "Er, so, I hear you're an earthbender."

"Yeah? What's it to ya?"

"I'm," he scratched the back of his neck, "I'm actually an earthbender too."

Even if she couldn't see her head moved like it normally would, those eyes narrowing but not moving more than that. "With those twinkle toes?"

"I'm… new?"

Toph snorted, Aang was kind of feeling sorry for this Chey guy she might have been promised to. He'd probably been expecting a proper lady. Toph was much better than that. "So that's how it's gonna be huh? You spring me, I teach you how to move a few rocks?"

"I mea-"

"Fine." She really wanted off this island Aang thought. "But don't come crying to me when your toes get broken."

"I won't." They hopped on Appa after introducing Toph to him formally, he asked Zuko just before he mounted up, "She isn't really going to break my toes is she?" Getting nothing but a snort in response.

They didn't need to go to the next island, instead travelling two days straight with Aang getting no sleep whatsoever as Katara and Sokka fought over where they should land. He couldn't ask Zuko to take over either, namely because it wasn't his job to look after Appa. Mostly because Toph seemed a little uncomfortable with all these new voices and nowhere solid for her to, as she explained, 'see'. So far, Zuko remaining like a table for her to lean on was the only thing stopping her from gripping Appa's saddle, and the fact he was quiet seemed to be a bonus in this case. Especially when Momo decided he was done eating and started messing about.

"Could you just find someplace to land," Aang begged as they passed another piece of greenery he would have been happy to land on.

"We're trying," Katara snapped. "It's not easy you know. We need somewhere with water so I- we, can practice waterbending."

"But everywhere that has water has people near it," Sokka ground out, the same argument he'd been making for the last who knew how many hours. "Or at least near enough that they'll see, maybe hear, if rocks and water suddenly start coming to life." He snatched the map off Katara, "That's why I'm saying we land somewhere dense, set up camp, and then walk to water when you want to do your magic finger wiggles."

"Bending," She said with a hit to Sokka's arm.

"Whatever."

"And if we have to hike to a river every day we're missing out on precious bending time. Aang needs to master waterbending Sokka. He barely even begun his training."

"Wait," Toph called from the back, "I thought you were an earthbender."

"Er, well?"

"He's the Avatar," Katara said, like it wasn't supposed to be some big secret. "Now I say we land near Kyoshi's island. They were nice enough to us last time."

"That's because they didn't know you were a bender."

They were off again.

"Right," taking matters into his own hands he didn't even care where they landed, he just looked for a heavily wooded area and told Appa to set down. "We're staying here for the night. No arguments. No fights. Nothing. I don't want to hear a peep out of any of you. Now can someone pass me my bag I'm starving."

Toph did, and she, at least, was thankful for being on solid ground once more. He must have looked something scary, or Katara and Sokka decided he was pitiful enough since, while they weren't happy about it, went off to 'gather firewood'. He could hear them fighting as he tore into some of his tofu rolls, his head pounding and eyes drooping from lack of sleep. Appa was already snoring, Momo chittering around Toph as she, still sticking close to Zuko, hesitantly explored their landing site.

As much as he would have liked to stuff his face, they had an extra mouth to feed now, which meant less money to share around and more food to gather. Making sure he had enough for breakfast, he dropped his bag back in Appa's saddle, taking the thing off poor Appa who happily rolled onto his back now he didn't have a big leather thing keeping him down.

"We'll have another bath day," Aang promised, climbing onto Appa's stomach, "Maybe find that river again. It was peaceful enough." If he could remember where abouts it had been.

As for now he just wanted sleep and sleep was what he got. Although if he was hoping for a dreamless deep sleep he was sadly mistaken.

It was like the world wanted to torment him now he'd embraced his Avatar-ness. As soon as he closed his eyes the world around him shifted until he was looking at a giant beetle thing, its faces changing over and over again. Don't react, he told himself, don't react. His heart was beating painfully in his ears, fear gripping his throat. Don't react. It was like he could feel it trying to grab him, but he needed answers. La… no, not La, he was here for Ummi. He was here- Ummi!

"What did you do!"

He woke with more questions than answers, sweat pounding off him and even here he bade himself not to react. Don't breathe too heavily, don't open his mouth too wide, his hands too expressive.

That was until something black crawled across his chest. After that he didn't think he'd screamed so loud or shrill in his life, batting it off him and scrambling so far he fell off Appa and still kept going.

It was going to take his face. It was going to take his face!

Hands were gripping him trying to pry his face from him but he held on tight. He wasn't giving it up, he had things to live for. They pulled harder, sharp legs all of them, black and cold and so so many.

"Take it off, you're scaring him."

"I don't think it's me."

He knew those voices. But he'd known that face, and that face had made voices too, so many voices, one of them hers.

"Take it off."

"You sound just like your brother."

The claws pulled again, a gentle, "Aang," pricking at his memory. That's right, he was Aang. Ummi… he didn't know anyone called Ummi.

Chancing a look, he peered between his arms to see Katara, all of Katara, her dark hair, her loop thingies, her body that was attached to those loop thingies. Behind her too was Sokka, and Toph staring at him like a feral animal. He couldn't see Zuko, but he could feel that fire warmed body near his, right at his left, his hand, not a claw, trying to pry Aang's from his face. "Katara?"

She nodded, "You back with us?"

He didn't even let her finish, lunging forward to cling onto her alive and attached body. He didn't really notice where he'd landed until Katara was wiggling her way into a more comfortable position. By then he'd noticed, and Aang liked to think of himself as respectful so, as much as he would have liked to keep clinging, he let go, falling back onto his haunches.

"Is he always like this?" Toph asked.

Sokka took his chin in hand, eyes seriously worried as he let out, "Not really. Only after battles I've noticed."

"You guys fight battles?" That was it, that was where they would lose her Aang thought. Then, "You guys? With your wimpy arms?"

Apparently not

"Hey!" Sokka whined, flexing his arms to show how decidedly not wimpy they were.

A hand touched Aang's back, the overly warmth of it the only reason he didn't freak out again. Even then his heart ramped up his throat, that coil of fear still sitting too close to the surface.

Zuko didn't have his mask on, the Blue Spirit sitting discarded a few feet away. His hair had grown in a little since they'd left the North Pole, the little stubble of black actually noticeable now he wasn't shaving it with the rest of his face every day.

"We'll er," Katara motioned behind her, eyes flickering between them, "Leave you two alone." She mouthed something at Zuko, actually having the audacity to pick up his mask before towing the other two along back to the fire they'd made at some point through Aang's nap.

"What was that?" Aang asked, finding Zuko's usual grumpy face in position.

"She thinks we're fighting." It was nice being able to see Zuko again. He'd missed the way the idiot rolled his eyes at almost everything, "Actually, no, she thinks I've done something to upset you and I'm probably not going to hear the last of it after this. You just had to have a nightmare."

He didn't take it to heart, relaxing back on his hands, doing some of those breathing tricks Zuko favoured, "'S'not my fault you've been an absent husband."

"I'm taking that necklace and burning it."

He clutched it close to his neck, "You are not."

Zuko wouldn't. Not really. Deep down he was a big softy. As if to prove so he didn't bring up burning the necklace, or doing anything else remotely horrible to it, asking saying, "So nightmare."

Considering Zuko got them just as much as Aang he didn't feel all that bad grabbing his knees and admitting, "Kind of."

"Kind of?"

"I… don't think it was a nightmare. I don't know. My heart is still in my throat. I've never felt-" Actually he had. When he'd seen Gyatso. When he was waking to find bodies, people he'd murdered surrounding him. "I think it was a memory."

"I've had those before," Zuko admitted. "Usually while I'm awake though."

"Yeah?"

Zuko turned his head until his scar rubbed a little on his shoulder, "I'm not too good around fire."

"But-" He'd seen Zuko around fire tonnes of times. They had a campfire right now that Aang was sure, if he'd been awake, he would have seen Zuko sitting around it as friendly as ever. He certainly wasn't afraid of it when he was fighting those soldiers in the North Pole. But, as Sokka told it, Zuko hadn't actually been fighting to kill. Sokka also said he seemed to do more running than fighting, Aang had his suspicions it was to try and get to the ship to see if his father was on board, but, maybe it had a little to do with the firebenders.

"It's alright when it's there, unmoving. But when it gets a little too close to my face I just…" He shrugged.

Any sentiment Aang wanted to say he didn't think he would get it out right. So, taking a leaf out of Zuko's book he said, "That's rough."

"You're the worst," Zuko snorted, a small grin prickling at the corners of his mouth. He mirrored Aang's position, hands firmly in view so Aang knew if something did touch him, he'd be okay to whip it away. "Do you, want to talk about it?"

That couldn't have come out any more awkwardly. But, "I don't think it was my memory. Not completely. Everything from the North Pole is kind of a blur. I remember getting to the sanctuary with the Fire Nation, but afterwards…" he rubbed his head like that would help. "I've never actually been to the Spirit World before. When I met Roku it wasn't so much the Spirit World as it was receding into my mind." He didn't think he was telling this right. "But at the Pole I felt like I was being sucked in somewhere. My mind just," he snapped his fingers. "And when I woke I'd killed all these people."

"That wasn't you," Zuko said, as he had done the last time Aang had woke from a nightmare about murdering people.

"I know," he was starting to believe that now. "Which makes me wonder what I was doing while the ocean spirit was taking over me."

Zuko's good eye squinted until it was a mirror of his scarred one, "You don't think you were both there?"

Aang shook his head, "I think it pushed me out. Spirits can possess people, but it didn't feel like possession. And I'm the Avatar, the bridge, so, when the ocean went one way why couldn't I have went the other until the ocean was done?" That didn't come out right either.

"You think you were in the Spirit World?" And that was amazement in Zuko's eyes. Why wouldn't it be either? He'd grown up with stories about spirits. It must be wild for him to be living some of these adventures.

"I keep having dreams. But I think they're memories of my time in the Spirit World. I don't know why I can't remember it fully." He had a theory. It was just a theory however. "Before we met Toph I saw a flying boar. Roku's been there a few times too. Faceless monkeys. Actually it was a faceless monkey before." Yeah, he sort of remembered it, in that odd way someone half recalled their dreams, "I think the memory triggered another memory."

He'd lost Zuko, he could just tell from the furrow in his brows. Still, Zuko had the decency to pretend he was following along. "Right?"

"There was a Spirit. I think I was asking where La was," Pushed out was sounding more right if he was actually looking for this Spirit. "And, I think he met another version of me. A past life? And, well, they say dreaming is a minor part of the Spirit World, maybe past me managed to seep through and," Show him that awful memory.

He touched his face again, making sure it was still there. Somehow, the feeling of getting his skin ripped off, the imagination of it all wasn't imagination. Aang was sure it had happened, and just the thought had him biting back the urge to gag.

Zuko's mouth was twisted when Aang looked. "What?"

Zuko shook his head, "Just thinking. You said dreams were a minor part of the Spirit realm. You don't think that Spirit can reach you while you're asleep do you?"

Aang touched his face again. "Well I do now!"

"I'm sorry." He did look it too, "I'm not good at this."

"Obviously," Aang scoffed. What if the Spirit could? What if it had latched onto him? What if it was trying to add him to its collection? "I wanna leave." This place reminded him too much of the Spirit World. There were trees there too. Big ones just like this. Maybe it was the trees that had let the Spirit grab him. Trees were spirits weren't they? "I wanna leave. I wanna go to a village. We have coins left, let's just find an inn." Somewhere with four walls and no trees.

Zuko wasn't good with panic. He eyes kept flitting over to where the rest of their group were sitting, mouth saying soothing, "Okay,"'s even as he was probably plotting to have Aang tied up with rope by the end of the night.

"Zuko I mean it." the woods used to be such a haven for him. "I want to leave. What if they're feeding it information? What if it doesn't want us to win?" It didn't care, Aang remembered, it just wanted to take. That was its role in this life and it did it so well. "I don't want to have my face peeled off again. It hurts, it hurt him. I don't want to die like that again."

"You won't, you," he glanced off to the side again, "Okay, give me a second."

He didn't. As soon as it looked like Zuko was moving Aang was clutching onto his arm. If he had someone with him maybe the trees wouldn't grab him. Maybe the Spirit wouldn't take him.

Zuko, as Aang had said, was made up of half pure determination since he didn't let a little thing like Aang clinging to him stop him from reaching the others. With a short struggle, Aang found himself slung over Zuko's shoulder, clutching his dark shirt that, yeah, they were gonna need a bath day, and swayed his way over to the others.

"We're leaving," Zuko said.

"Why?" Katara demanded.

"We just are now pack up."

He heard Toph say something about wimpy Avatars as Zuko stopped Appa from eating the rest of his hay supply. Somehow they ended up in Appa's saddle. Aang wasn't really sure how since Zuko didn't exactly have many hands free and Appa didn't have his saddle on. But Aang was there, Momo chittering in his ear and the others slowly dumping their stuff down.

He would have been happy for the short bursts of nothingness before. Now, with every second he felt he lost, mind on something else, or even feeling his eyes drifting shut, it sent his heart faster and faster. He wasn't sleeping here. He didn't think he ever wanted to sleep again.

Sokka steered Appa to the nearest town, with directions from Zuko since Sokka firstly didn't know how to actually guide Appa and, secondly, he couldn't hold the reigns and look at a map at the same time. Although he did give it a good try.

Zuko was the only one able to produce a light too, his little flame the only thing Aang focused on. People couldn't bend in the Spirit World. Roku had warned him outright that first meeting. It was why Aang didn't particularly want to go there. Without his bending he wasn't much of a fighter. He didn't have a club or a boomerang like Sokka. Nor could he wield swords like Zuko. Aang was fast, but that was about it. He wasn't even sure he knew how to make a fist. Not one that would hurt someone. All his attempts at punching had been for the purpose of bending.

Somehow they landed in a village that didn't know them. Regardless he felt Zuko's hood pull over his head just in case. The rooms they bought weren't large, which either spoke of how much they were willing to part with, or how much they actually had left from their money pile. Either way Aang couldn't care less. There were four walls around him and no trees to spy on him.

Logically, he knew the spirits could get him anywhere. But, somehow the illusion of being trapped in four walls was helping him calm down.

He passed out at some point.

When he woke it was way past midmorning. He didn't feel refreshed, at all, and he certainly hadn't had a dreamless sleep, but he'd slept. Enough that he was more than embarrassed about last night.

"You awake?" Came from his left, Aang looking to see he'd been using Zuko's arm as a pillow.

"If I say no can we not talk about paying for a bed?"

Zuko snorted, but didn't sound at all mad when he said, "You know it's okay, right? No one's mad at you."

"Even though I could have blown our cover?"

He could feel Zuko's smirk from where he lay, "You think I'd let that happen? I have several places mapped out in case we need to make a quick escape somewhere."

"So you're saying you had a plan?" Aang asked slowly.

"Of course."

"You?"

There was a hint of annoyance in that tone as he asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Aang rolled on his back, hands out, "Nothing." He waited for Zuko's pout to disappear. "Just that you're not exactly Mr Plan of Action." That was Sokka actually. "Mr Impulsive maybe, or maybe Mr Reckless. But Mr Plan of Action?" he shook his head.

"Right." Aang found his head on the mattress instead of Zuko's arm. "See if I help you out anymore."

He grabbed Zuko's shirt, the guy making no attempt at all to fight flopping back down. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

They lay in the late midday sun for a while.

"It is okay," Zuko said. "I mean, even if you hadn't been up for over two days, hungry and moody it would be okay."

"Is that what you tell yourself?" Aang wondered. Zuko said he'd been scared like that too. Had times where he just wanted to run.

But, "That's different."

Course it was Aang thought with a snort. "Well, it is okay," he said out loud. "If I can think it's okay then you can too. Okay?"

"I think we've said okay a bit too much."

Yeah, even in Aang's mouth it was starting to sound a bit odd.

Something occurred to him as he was about to start his 'okay' path once more. "You said last night you can't handle fire. Is that why your firebending is a little," He wiggled his hand around.

Zuko didn't even look, his mouth twisting as he nodded. "I was a late bloomer anyway. My training wasn't as important as my sisters when I did start bending. I er, was okay in combat, but, when this, and then," He waved his hand out to their room. The 'on the run' implied, "I kind of, lost my spark so to say."

"You seemed to be okay in the North Pole." But, maybe that was because it was coming out of his own hands. Maybe it was different when it came from someone else.

Also, "We were surrounded by water. There was nothing to really be afraid of."

"I guess."

They lay there a while longer, Aang catching a few more hours before the lady they had paid the night before asked for more money or for them to get lost. They chose the latter, flying off with Appa until they came to another village that wasn't so dense. There were trees and rocks about an hours walk, and a stream that fed into a well not far either. Both of which, while they would have to be careful, they could use to teach Aang some less than spectacular bending. On the evenings, they'd crowd between houses, or, Aang and Zuko did, anything to actually get some sleep and not think the trees were going to sell him out to the Spirit world if he did something they didn't approve of.

It was uncomfortable but it worked.

Katara was a much gentler teacher than Pakku. She liked to praise him, a lot, when he got something right and, well, Aang wasn't exactly going to hate a pretty girl telling him he did a good job.

Toph on the other hand was very much like Pakku. She seemed to revel in bullying him into reacting, even if, so far, it hadn't produced any results.

"Are you sure you're an earthbender?" Toph asked when Aang failed, again, to move a rock.

He scratched his head, "I mean, the monks said I was the Avatar."

"Well maybe they got it wrong." She flung another rock his way, Aang dodging instinctively before realising he was meant to move it. "Remember twinkle toes, you bully the rock, do not let the rock bully you, now move it." She flung a whole volley at him, Aang doing his best to move it but, well, if he didn't know how to move it without all this pressure, with it wasn't garnering any better results.

Aang didn't get a breakthrough with his earthbending for weeks. Actual weeks. During that time he got a little better at waterbending. He could make fancy patterns now, and did so for the short applause Katara gave him every time he did something she had already managed to do ages ago.

"Stop expecting applause and move the damn rock!" Toph yelled from her perch on her own mini mountain.

Aang squatted a little more, willing the rock to move. Just an inch. Please? Even less than an inch?

He felt tears welling in his eyes from trying to move the rock with pure will. That could also be his muscles straining.

"I can't do it," He sighed, relaxing his muscles again. Why was this so hard? He could waterbend after the first four tries, and firebending less than that. Why was earth being the most difficult?

"Not with that attitude," a pebble struck his cheek, Toph conjuring a bigger rock in front of him. "Try again twinkle toes before I start lobbing things at you again."

Maybe it wasn't him. Maybe it was his teacher.

No, no, it was him. Had to be him. Pakku was just as bad and Aang had got it then. He just… needed to focus.

Eventually it was Sokka getting stuck in a crevice that got Aang to earthbend for the first time. Not the best show of earthbending, but considering his first attempts at the other elements and how he performed now, he had to say it wasn't too bad.

Toph had to get Sokka out of the crevice, Aang only managed to scare off the animal trying to kill Sokka. Still, progress was progress and he spent the rest of the day moving tiny rocks across the ground.

"Pretty amazing huh?" Aang flexed, twirling his marbles with earthbending now instead of airbending.

Zuko's expression didn't move.

"So when do you think we'll be starting firebending?" While they were going to look for a proper master, probably through kidnapping, Aang still wanted to know the basics and Zuko knew the basics.

Zuko sighed, "I already told you, I'm not teaching you."

"Just the basics."

"No," he huffed.

"Just breathing techniques. You know I'm just going to start copying you again." He still did his drills while Aang did his. The only time he wasn't meditating or practicing his stances was when Sokka tried to sneak attack him and the two of them ended up rolling around for a while.

Something Aang may have been guilty of watching instead of concentrating on his forms.

Some grumbling and negotiating later Aang managed to whittle Zuko down to, "When you're a good way through your earthbending. Fire isn't something I think you'll be able to handle until you have a solid earth foundation."

"That makes no sense." But he trusted Zuko, and a goal to work to was good enough for Aang.

They moved villages after two weeks. Namely because one of the kids had almost caught them bending the day before and they couldn't take her coming back, curiouser than ever and actually catching them. He loved kids, but, kids weren't the best judge of character. If they saw someone doing something interesting they'd be telling their parents as soon as they got home, and if their parents knew, who knew what kind of people they were. Whether they were the kind to rat Aang and his friends out or not.

Best to not take that chance.

They passed Omashu on their way to the next safe space. It was only from above, but even at that angle Aang could admire the way that Omashu seemed unchanged to his old eyes. Same structure. Same ridges and curves. The only difference was the blazing red that even Aang could see from his vantage instead of the rolling greens that used to live on Omashu's walls.

He hoped Bumi hadn't done anything too stupid in his lifetime. While Aang knew his friend was brave, he didn't know what he would do if he heard in passing of Bumi's death. It was just last year, to him, that the two had seen each other. Aang's last hurrah before he was supposed to go back to the temple and start his true Avatar training.

His other friends were probably dead too.

He hoped it was old age. They were all good kids. Crazy. But good.


	11. Chapter 11

They landed at another village where, instead of foraging for berries and listening to Sokka complain about their meagre meal, Aang decided to rustle up some money, doing his usual tricks and games until he had enough for at least one meal for someone in their group.

He gave it to Toph. Mainly because he didn't know how she would react to their food situation getting worse. So far they'd been giving her the lion's share, not really wanting to scare her off. But sooner or later that lion's share wouldn't be any better than what the rest of them were eating now. She didn't seem like the kind to just take off when things got tough but, again, Aang would rather not cross that path just yet.

She wasn't one to turn her nose up at money either, walking off to buy herself something nice to eat while the rest of them were stuck with whatever Sokka and Zuko hunted down.

Thankfully Momo had avoided being the subject of Sokka's club once more when Aang got back to their camp. He was chittering at Appa, Aang sure the two of them were conspiring about something. Just what would remain to be seen.

The poor fishes that hadn't escaped the fearless hunters weapons were roasting over a fire before sundown, the smell alone making Aang's stomach grumble. Just because he was vegetarian didn't mean he didn't think meat smelled tasty. Just that he didn't particularly want to eat it.

"Here," something whacked him in the face, Aang looking down to see a parcel of bread and cheese. "There's some of that weird paste you like in this one," Toph said, handing this one a little less harshly to him.

"But, that money was for you." Oh the bread was freshly baked. It was still warm in his hands.

His mouth was watering.

"You think I'm an idiot? Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I can't hear your stomach rumbling constantly. 'Sides," she handed the few coins she had left over, "You're the one who got the coins. If I get hungry enough I'm sure I can con a few people out of them myself."

"I didn't con them."

"Sure you didn't," Toph snorted, striding over to demand her share of fish.

His stomach was happy with the bread. Even happier with cheese. It had been so long since he'd had cheese. So, very long.

It looked like Sokka felt the same as Aang had him practically breathing down his neck, the only reason Sokka not getting any because Katara forcefully dragged him away. Aang didn't care, sliding some sneakily over breakfast. He'd never seen Sokka so happy.

They got into a routine, in this new place. Waterbending in the morning, earthbending in the afternoon. Between that, naps and food and little else. It was starting to make him a little antsy.

"I know it's important to focus on my training, but can't we sneak a little bit of fun into that?" Aang wondered.

Sokka shrugged, "I mean, sure. I'm up for fun. You don't know how boring it is having nothing to do all day."

He'd been expecting a little more resistance. Sokka always seemed to be a serious guy. "So you're just okay with me playing hooky?"

Sokka shrugged, "One day off isn't going to hurt anyone."

"Okay." So he took a day off. A practical day off.

He had a whole speech prepared, and Appa's saddle as proof, just to show how much they needed a bath day. Tempting Katara with a little ocean trip and Toph with sand had them all packed up and off to the nearest beach before midday.

As soon as the beach was in sight Aang leapt off Appa and dived head first into the ocean. He was soaked, and hastily chucked his clothes onto the sand, diving in again and just revelling in cool water and sand between his toes. No bending duties, no lessons, just swimming and fun times.

He almost drowned when a giant wave crashed over his head, Appa, saddle gone, swimming over until he was nosing Aang for a game of catch. It was just like old times, chasing Appa around until the stench that had become norm for both of them was gone and nothing but salty air and sweet grass was in his nose.

Then Momo fell onto his head and Aang remembered it wasn't just the two of them anymore. While Toph wasn't too far into the ocean she'd dipped her feet in enough to look like she was having fun as she splashed, carefully around. Katara, had Sokka in a headlock the two of them trying to wrestle the other into the ocean first. The only one that was still pouting on the sand was Zuko.

But that wasn't unusual.

Swimming back to shore, he grabbed Zuko's hand and started towing him to the sea. "Come on, it's bath day, you gotta join in."

Zuko knew resisting would only lead to being dragged in anyway, he'd been with Aang too long, so he got his hand loose and tried taking his boots off. It took Zuko shaking Aang off three times for Aang to realize he wasn't trying to escape, just make sure he didn't drench his clothes like Aang's poor things attempting to dry on the sand.

"Right," he said, tossing his pants with the rest of his clothes, "Let's get this over with."

It took Aang a second to remember what they were doing, swimming, fun, and not thinking about going underwear shopping at some point since Zuko had quite a hole in those ones. Quite a hole.

Zuko grabbed Aang's shoulder before he threw himself back in the ocean, hands going around his neck, and for a split second Aang thought Zuko was going to do something. What that something was he didn't get to imagine since his necklace was staring at him in under a second.

"I'll put it with my swords," Zuko said, Aang watching as he laid it down as gently as he had his swords.

Softie.

"Swimming!" Aang insisted, pushing Zuko further and further until the two of them had to swim their feet not hitting the sand. "Feels good right?"

"Definitely warmer than the last body of water I was in." Right, North Pole.

Appa announced his presence again before Aang could say anything more, demanding they get back to their game now Aang was back in the water.

He couldn't say how long he stayed there. Long enough for the others to tire and start with more practical measures like washing clothes. But Aang didn't want to go in just yet. Going in meant admitting he had time in the day, and if he had time in the day why couldn't he be using it to practice his bending?

He skipped lunch, preferring to use his airbending to try and catch Momo when he tried flying close enough for Aang to grab. When an even greater idea piqued his interest, he went back to shore and grabbed his glider, flying for the first time since the North Pole over the long stretch of water.

He raced Momo. Raced Appa even when he decided he wanted to give Aang a run for his money. He had fun in other words, stretching it out until sundown when it would just be impractical for him to do any practicing now.

He grabbed his clothes, joining the rest of them around their campfire. Funny stories, scary stories, just laughter in general, it was what he'd been hoping for when he wanted a break before his Avatar training. It was nice now. Nice to know he could still make friends in this new age.

He stuffed his face with bread, getting frequent odd looks from Sokka as he tried to work out just what on Zuko was bugging him. He found out when the fire glinted off something on his neck, Aang realising the thing that was different was his necklace. Either to keep it safe, or stop it from dropping out of his pocket Zuko had it tied around his neck, and Aang would be lying if he didn't get a little tingle seeing something he'd made there.

"So, are we packing up?" Sokka asked as the sun set and moon came out.

All eyes turned to Aang. He didn't exactly want to stay here, in the open. But the trees were a good mile away, and, well, he couldn't live his life running. At some point they were going to run out of villages. When they did, was Aang going to live his life awake, or try and ease himself into sleeping in the wild again before he had to out of necessity.

"Maybe… it won't be so bad?" He tried, toes digging into the sand.

"Really?" Sokka asked.

"I mean," he shrugged, "It's not, bad, out here?" The ocean liked him enough to not drown him, Aang hoped, and if it liked him, maybe it wouldn't fess him up to that Spirit.

"Very convincing," Toph said.

"Let's just stay," Aang huffed, "Okay, it's nice here. It's quiet. Let's just-"

They dropped it, conversation moving onto something else. Like bending. They agreed maybe staying here another day would be good. Especially for a day of waterbending. The idea of staying another day was good, even if he would be back to the usual lesson planning. Who knows, maybe a bigger body of water would be interesting. Hopefully. If he made it to morning that was.

They bedded down when the moon was high in the sky. Aang, regardless of the heat, dragged Zuko next to Appa. "Just in case," Aang begged more than asked.

Aang didn't really know what Zuko was going to do if a spirit did come for him, but, having someone else there, someone that might see or hear something before him, even just give him a split second warning, it helped. Zuko didn't complain, he was used to sticky nights in doorways or next to wells. Appa may have been fluffier and decidedly hotter than a wooden doorway, but he was comfortable, and Aang was a waterbender now, turning a little spray of water that little bit colder was a breeze at this point.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Zuko said the pair of them staring at the stars, Aang, at least, trying to stave off sleep. "If it does come for you. I mean, you said you seen it in the Spirit World when you were searching for the ocean spirit. So, if you survived then you can survive now, right?"

"I guess." It did make a little bit of sense.

"You'll be fine." Was he trying to convince Aang or himself?

He turned on his side, burying his face in Zuko's side. Just before he dropped off he felt Zuko wrap Aang's necklace around his neck.

Dreams in the wild seemed to really tap into that weird part of his mind since Aang found himself in the Spirit World again. It was a little disconcerting, Aang not knowing if he'd actually travelled here or if this was just a dream.

He tried bending, nothing happening. But, was that just because he couldn't bend in the Spirit World, or because in his dream he knew he couldn't bend in the Spirit World and so by rights couldn't bend because his dream convinced itself that he couldn't. Urgh, even when he was asleep his thoughts were confusing.

That centipede thing didn't show its face. Instead, it felt like almost an apology as he spent his dream time chasing various spirits around.

He woke drooling on Zuko's clean clothes and consciously aware that where his leg was cast over there was a hole. It wasn't that important in the grand scheme of things, but Aang's slowly waking mind kept fixating on it. There was a hole there, right near Aang's ankle. One less layer between Aang and Zuko's skin.

A stupid thought really since he could just reach up and touch Zuko's skin if he wanted to. But something about it there, in that spot, made it different.

It got worse when Zuko woke, shifting with a groan, his pelvis grinding slightly on Aang's leg. It made things happen. Things that certainly hadn't happened all that often outside of his bedroom in the Southern Temple.

"You alive?" Zuko grumbled.

"Yeah," Aang croaked back, not all too sure whether it was from the early hour or Zuko shifting again. He took his leg off, stretching his arms over his head. "Guess I gave it the slip." He still wasn't sure he hadn't actually crossed over, and that fact alone scared him.

Zuko moaned, hips shifting until he was facing the other way, "I'm gonna… wake me if there's trouble."

Aang blinked away the sleep in his eyes, hands going to his neck. It wasn't so much the idea of losing his necklace as it was having a chance to tie it himself. Zuko didn't complain either, just tensed at the first touch before relaxing further into his roll when he was done.

Playing in the ocean for another day was fun, even if he did have to practice his forms while doing so. The ocean seemed to respond better to him, as if the ocean spirit wanted to help him, wanted to work with him. He wondered, when the day was done and he was around the fire once more, if he could bundle some ocean water away like Katara did with her spirit water.

They slept again outside, Aang making sure he was awake when he asked Zuko to tie his necklace back on. He seemed to have a lot of practice in it, not tying it too tight or too slack, just enough that it rested gently on Aang's neck.

Then Aang remembered Zuko had a sister. A mother too. As much as Aang would have thought Zuko would never do something so menial like tie a necklace on one of them, he probably would have. Things like propriety were never really associated with Zuko. Especially since Aang hadn't heard him once try and order someone around. Not for menial things he was happy to do himself anyway. He could be a bit bossy sometimes.

They moved on when Aang didn't get kidnapped in his sleep that night, flying to another part of the Earth Kingdom with a bit more rock for Toph. Aang was tempted to ask if they could go to another Air Temple but, he was a little afraid to. He knew they would let him, that wasn't the problem. It was what he would find there that was.

Would there be more bodies? More faces of people he knew gone forever. Friends, teachers, just innocent people that didn't deserve to be wiped out. He didn't want to sit in that silence again. It was quiet here, in the middle of nowhere, but there was life here too. There were animals, trees, just a feeling of being alive that was missing from the Southern Air Temple.

Regardless, they weren't caught as Toph and Katara did their best to piece together their crafts enough to teach Aang.

"I'm probably going to be the first Avatar that doesn't master the elements," he told Sokka when they were foraging for berries. "Just good enough will have to do."

"Good enough is better than nothing," Sokka agreed, shoving another few berries into a bag. Aang took them quickly back out, knowing, from experience, that they would all be sitting with indigestion if they ate those. That… let's just say it's a miracle Zuko still trusts him to fetch berries after that incident. Listening to a masked man vomit his guts out had not been the best of beginnings to their friendship. "Maybe the Firelord won't be that hard to defeat. I mean he's old, right?"

"Way old," Sokka nodded. "Like ninety."

Then again, that wasn't too old. Kyoshi was around two hundred when she died, and some of the monks at the temple had been over a hundred and still airbending masters. To be honest it wasn't even Azulon Aang should be worried about. "I really need to ask how many people are in Zuko's family."

"You mean you haven't already?"

Aang shook his head, "I didn't want to pry. He seems so hesitant about them." And Aang didn't know if he wanted to hear the reason for that just yet. He knew it was bad. He knew it was really bad.

"Well, I mean, you're going to have to ask about them eventually," Sokka reasoned, "They are your in-laws. Phew, imagine that family barbecue."

He didn't really want to. Or imagine the looks on their faces when they found out he'd married their son, grandson, whatever. Pretend married. Kind of married. Married enough that the North Pole considered them together. "I'm sure they'll adjust." After he defeated them.

"You want to hope Azulon is more considerate than his father is what you want to do," Sokka corrected.

"What do you mean?"

Which was how Aang got a lecture on just what Sozin had banned when he became Firelord. How Zuko was even keeping a straight face was a wonder, Aang thought, when Sokka finished.

"But-" That made no sense. "Love is love. The Fire Nation was one of the most understanding nations I'd ever been to." They certainly hadn't seen anything wrong with two men getting together. No one really had in Aang's time. He'd see monks at all corners of the world find love in each other, teens in the Fire Nation not want to play with him because they had a date with someone, girl or boy. It just, it didn't matter.

"I think it was something to do with the military," Sokka offered. "No same sex marriages more people afraid to hook up more babies born and more people to invade the other nations."

That made sense. "It's not right." But it made sense.

Sokka clapped him on the shoulder, "Well, at least your fire boy doesn't care about all that."

"Yeah."

It bugged him the rest of the evening. He kept looking at Zuko, sitting next to him, seeing how he reacted. He didn't seem to hate sitting too near another man. Or flinch when Katara teased him about being Aang's husband. Was that because Zuko knew it wasn't real or did he really not care? But if he did care wouldn't he be telling Katara right now that it wasn't like that? Or was he that concerned with keeping his cover, of using this marriage to stop the others from looking at him under suspicion again.

Zuko didn't stop Aang from shifting close to him when they bedded down for the night. But, again, that could be because they were outside, in the wilderness, surrounded by trees that Zuko knew freaked Aang out. Even if Aang forgot about the trees Zuko had never hated bedding close together before. Zuko was the one that often ended up on top of Aang as well, head preferring Aang's collarbone to the smushed up blankets he made into a pillow.

For a guy who'd been brought up to not look at another man that way Zuko was strangely comfortable around Aang.

He didn't even know why it mattered so much. Actually he did. He liked Zuko. Really liked him. He was a moody headstrong idiot who was actually trying to do the right thing in life.

That being said he patted his chest, sending a grin Zuko's way, "You can just go to sleep here instead of pretending to roll over in the night. I know your precious princely head doesn't appreciate the ground."

He got a scowl for that, Zuko turning on his side away from Aang. Again there wasn't any real hostility there. No repulsion. Just his usual annoyance at being teased.

When Aang actually sidled up along his back Zuko didn't throw him off. When Aang wrapped his hands around Zuko's middle he didn't tense. Just pouted, really, when Aang rolled them onto their backs, Zuko's head in his favoured spot.

A week they spent in the woods, and for a week straight Aang had dreams about the Spirit World. It started with memories of the Siege of the North. Glimmers La granted him of what it did in Aang's body. Then it changed, Aang walking through a plain he'd never been to before. Sometimes it was as himself, sometimes as someone else. He caught glimmers of his reflection sometimes. Roku. Kyoshi. A Waterbender. An Airbender. He walked in their shoes as they explored the Spirit World.

They fled to more populated areas when Aang grew hungry enough to agree with Sokka they needed more than berries and meat to survive. Aang had long ran out of nuts, and what he could forage was pitiful in its quantity without being shared between five people.

The lot of them took corners of this new town, each of them promising to meet up at sundown to see how much money they could scrounge up. Unsurprisingly, Zuko was the one with the biggest haul, handing Aang a loaf of bread along with the money Aang was sure he'd stolen from whoever he ran into.

As much as Aang wanted to complain he was hungry enough to scoff down the bread. Besides, Katara was perfectly capable of telling Zuko exactly what Aang wanted to about the morals of stealing. Which she did.

But, as Sokka pointed out, for every coin Zuko stole from one person was just a coin they could have been putting in either one of their performance bags. It wasn't like they were gold coins either, and Zuko promised he'd only taken one from every person he saw so, Aang supposed, at this point, they could forgive him for it.

Especially when Zuko used it to buy them a room for the night. Then Aang was completely won over into forgiving him. As much as he was trying to ease himself into this sleeping outside thing, sleeping inside with no Spirit World tormenting his dreams was the most relaxed night he'd had in a while.

He blamed the good night's sleep on why he woke up stiff the next morning. Nothing at all to do with Zuko sprawled on top of him, his thigh heavily resting on Aang's pelvis. Nothing at all to do with Aang able to feel Zuko too, pressed tight to Aang's stomach.

That's what he'd been planning to say when Zuko woke. If he woke angry, like he did do sometimes. But this morning was not one of those times. Zuko woke with a snuffle, and blinked once, lazily at Aang before flopping onto his side and going back to sleep.

They flew to higher ground, decidedly out of the Earth Kingdom, to the mountains were there wasn't anyone around. The reason for why being the'd spied a few wanted posters in the last village they'd stocked up at. It wasn't just Aang, all their faces were put up. Even Toph's. The only one that had escaped the posters was Zuko, and that was because everyone thought he was dead. Better to avoid people for the time being and hope they could come up with some good disguises for when they would need to go back to civilisation again.

Aang wasn't too thrilled with the nearest village being almost a day and a half away. But, since his confidence was slowly coming back to him and the dreams were more memories than something else these days he would survive.

Zuko was doing more than that when Aang met up with him after his bending lesson with Toph. Katara was looking particularly reviled as she sat, stewing over the tent she'd forced Sokka to buy on their travels before the North Pole.

"What's going on?"

They'd stopped next to a bowl of water hidden between some rocks. Great for bending, Katara had said. Great for other things too since Zuko and Sokka barely moved from their lounge in one of the deep rock pools. "She's just upset because I won't put the tarp up," Sokka said.

"It might rain!" Katara snapped.

"Oh boy," Toph muttered behind him, all of them well versed with Sokka and Katara's fights by now.

"It's the dry season," Sokka said, sounding much more relaxed than he usually did when they got into one of these moods.

"In the Earth Kingdom. We're in the mountains."

Sokka waved a hand at her, "I already said, if you want it up, you do it yourself."

Aang was happy he wasn't the one on the receiving end of that glare, carefully edging around Katara until he could dip his toe in Sokka's pool. It was warm. Warmer than it should be. Aang noticed the hand Zuko had under the water, the slight glow to it.

Tossing his clothes off he slid in, the warm water exactly what he needed after a hard day having rocks thrown at him. Toph tumbled in a few seconds later, all four of them just watching Katara howl at a tarp that wouldn't stay upright.

Aang offered to help after a little while, but, apparently help wasn't appreciated. This was her battle, except maybe Sokka, was allowed to put it up.

By nightfall, the tarp was up. Kind of. It wouldn't protect the tent from rain but it was up. No one told Katara that. They'd seen what she could do with water and not even Toph was going to elicit her wrath right now.

"We need to get you new clothes," Aang said the next day when he found Sokka and Zuko back in their little rock pool.

The hole was bigger in Zuko's underwear. As much as it thrilled Aang to keep his mouth shut about it, the hole was big enough now to be one more tear away from splitting the whole fabric in half.

"From where?" Zuko drawled, head resting on his arms, all that toned muscle on display.

"I know you're used to your finery but there are other places to get clothes," Aang said, finally eliciting a little frown. "Or, I'm sure between Sokka and I we can cobble something together until we can get to another town."

Zuko's hand dipped down, feeling for himself the hole that moved under the water enough for Aang to get a glimpse of something other than Zuko's leg. "It's not that bad."

"It's bad enough."

A snort broke Aang's gaze, Sokka giving both of them a funny look. "Could you two just go into the woods and be done with it?"

"Huh?"

" It's big enough ," Sokka rasped, not anything at all how Aang had said it. At least, he didn't think he had. He didn't have that tone when he said that, did he? "I know we've all been living in each others pockets but you two know you can sneak off for alone time right?"

Alone- oh, alone time. "Er…"

"That's sweet of you," Zuko rasped, still barely moving, the water getting a little warmer however. His cheeks too.

Sokka held his hands up, "Whatever makes you less uptight."

Aang didn't know what to say to that, and spent the rest of however long he was there in silence, eyes forward, decidedly not thinking about the hole in Zuko's clothes and just what alone time without those clothes would be like.

Of course, around the time Aang did lose interest Zuko decided to get out and, well, water made material heavy and only Sokka and Katara had waterproof underwear. It was certainly enough for Zuko to agree that he might be needing a new pair, and for Katara to finally listen in and offer a needle and thread.

Watching Zuko try and stitch his underwear back together while knowing there weren't any right now under his clothes had Aang's heart beating so fast even Toph commented on it.

Aang was seriously not enjoying this sudden stage in his adolescence. It could have come at a better time. Like when he was fifteen. Or even last year when he didn't have more important things he should be thinking about, like mastering the four elements. Or- actually, now that he thought about it he did sneak off quite a few times last year for some 'alone time'. Blue, Zuko, may have also been on the mind then too. Although it was more of a damsel in distress Blue Spirit saves him kind of fantasy that he felt humongously guilty about afterwards since, at the time, he hadn't known how old Zuko was. At the temple too, it wasn't like he'd lived a pure life. This wasn't anything new to him. The problem was that he'd put it to the back of his mind for months now as he focused on other things and it was rearing its head with a vengeance right when he didn't need it to.

Thankfully, however, having been through these sporadic states of extreme to put it mildly sexual awareness, he knew how to curb it too. First came the fixations, Aang knowing better than to wave them off. They never waved off. Instead, he acknowledged they were there. For example instead of ignoring how good Zuko looked with his hair tied back today, Aang let himself look. Yes, Zuko did look nice, and he did look good with blue in his hair and Aang did know how soft that hair was because he'd spent all last night fighting the damn prince to let him use his bending to dry it.

There.

Acknowledged. Now Aang could go back to bending without feeling guilty for denying himself a proper look.

Alongside the fixations came the temptations. This, Aang had learned, was harder to curb than the first. The temptations made him want to do things, persuade him with 'innocent' reasons for just why it was a good idea that he maybe let his hand linger on Zuko's for a while. Giving in wasn't an option here. If he gave in once he'd do it again, and again and again until he would be humping Zuko awake and thinking it completely okay when it wasn't.

The fix for this required getting up a little earlier than usual, which, considering the rest of his party slept until mid morning, wasn't a problem. Really the only problem was Zuko since he, as he put it, rose like the sun which meant a very awkward parting of ways as they both went about their respective early morning rituals.

He wasn't quite sure that Zuko knew what he did on his own early mornings, and thankfully he had tact enough not to mention it. The one who did was Sokka, surprising Aang one morning with his own problem to take care of, and instead of interrupting Zuko's bending he'd decided to go Aang's way and, well, that was awkward for both of them.

"Isn't that what hothead's for?" Sokka asked, hand over his eyes.

"It's away, and it's not like you're any better," Aang pointed out, the pair of them turning awkwardly to the side that, well, it made things stand out more than hide them. "And he practices in the morning."

"Well tell him to practice in the evening, this is my alone time. Do you know how hard it was to wake this early?"

"Yes," Since Sokka wasn't the only one here. "And no, he likes the mornings. Something about the sun, I don't know it's like having a pet dragon."

There was a beat of silence, neither of them particularly wanting to turn back but both of them knowing they couldn't stay in the same spot. It was a nice spot too, covered, just far away enough from camp and with a soft moss on the ground to provide a little bit of comfort. The whole reason Aang had found it was because Sokka had stumbled upon it a few days ago… probably scouting it out now Aang thought about it.

"Well," Sokka cleared his throat.

Aang considered fighting for it but, "Fine." He'd been raised better than that. It was just a stupid spot, there were tonnes of them all around them.

However Aang insisted on at least a rota when he got back because, well, he couldn't find a spot like Sokka's for another three miles and things… they lost interest after the first mile.

A rota was fine. It stopped either of them from considering the rock pool which they'd both agreed on needed to be kept untainted since people like Toph and Katara used it too. "And I don't know about you but the idea of my sister… washing in that is just," Sokka shook his head.

"Yeah." Not at all a little thrilling. Urgh he needed to get a hold of himself. Maybe literally.


	12. Chapter 12

Another week went by, Aang doing his best to curb his lustful thoughts, blaming boredom for most of them because if there was one thing that used to cure boredom it was sneaking back to his rooms for an hour. The early mornings helped somewhat. By that Aang meant not at all. It was fine right after he was finished. He could go on with his day until about evening time when his lessons were over and he found himself, once more, staring at newly mended underwear and trying to recall just how the edges floated in the water. Not good for someone was going to be sleeping very closely next to someone in the next few hours.

As if to torment him more someone, Aang was pretty sure it was Sokka so he could get his space to himself again, started organising more and more 'alone time' for Aang and Zuko. First it was gathering firewood. Then it was collecting berries. Feeding Appa. Flying Appa. Trying to find Momo when he went on one of his longer adventures.

Right now he wasn't even being subtle, although, this one Aang was pretty sure was Katara's idea. He thought that because there was a little more effort put into it. He didn't even notice what was happening, just that her, Sokka and Toph were organising something while he was taking a soak with Zuko then, when he got out, there was a blanket with the last of their good food spread out, Momo on some kind of leash and the rest of them telling Aang they were going to take Appa for his daily fly today.

"Enjoy!" was the last thing he heard before Appa was flying them off into the clouds.

"What do you suppose that's about?" Zuko asked so close that Aang may have jumped a bit.

Rubbing his neck he gave a shrug, not exactly sure how to answer something as blatantly obvious as them trying to give him and Zuko time to, what? Date?

Zuko didn't look too bothered anyway, remarking that, "At least it'll be nice and quiet for a while," before picking at the selection they had to eat.

"Sure will."

Everything he'd always found easy around Zuko was out the window now they were purposefully alone. He didn't know why. This wasn't the first time they'd been alone before, and they'd been in much more intimate positions than sitting around a campfire stuffing their faces. But, somehow the purpose of why this was happening at all was hitting Aang hard. This was meant to be a date so… what did he do?

Did he just let it go, live his life like he usually did and pretend nothing was happening? Or, did he maybe test the waters? He would be a real idiot at this point if he didn't know he had a thing for Zuko. Had a thing for him for a while now. Even before he saw Zuko's quite nice looking face he'd had a guilty thing for the Blue Spirit, his late night wanderings imagining what could happen if, say after a scuffle, Aang tilted that mask up just enough to kiss whatever lips were waiting underneath.

So, did he go for it?

He may have spent too long convincing himself to since, as soon as he decided he may as well before he probably dies at Zuko's grandfather's hands, the silence had stretched so long Aang didn't really know how to break it. Or how to go about testing these waters he wanted to. What he wouldn't give for some mighty Avatar advice right about now he thought rather hard to the universe.

The universe was silent and a dick.

"Er, so, how-"

"I'm not teaching you firebending yet."

That hadn't even been on Aang's mind, "No I-"

"And I'm not helping you make a costume for Momo. I know you think it'll be cute, but he's just gonna rip it off and all that hard work will be for nothing, so, no."

He had actually been thinking about asking Zuko for that favour. "Okay." Momo was just going to have to be naked then.

He tried to think of things to say when silence descended again. Dating. Romantic stuff. Compliments? Yeah, he could start there.

"You know, your eyes are a really nice colour." Kind of creepy but the only other thing Aang could think of was telling Zuko he had nice arms and, actually he could probably play the arms off on wanting sword training. Urgh!

Those golden eyes squinted at him over the firelight, "What do you want?"

"What?"

Zuko snorted, "My eyes? The only thing people look at when they see my face is this thing, so what do you want?"

"No." Wow wait, was Zuko really that oblivious? "No, I don't want anything. Can't I just think you have nice eyes?"

From the look Zuko gave him apparently not.

"Well I do," Aang pressed on, "They're like a warm fire. I've seen other colours similar but, yours is the only one that actually looks like pure gold."

The scowl was still on, but Aang didn't think he was mistaken when he saw a hint of red overcoming Zuko's cheeks. "What do you want?" Zuko bit out.

Aang shrugged, "Nothing."

Zuko still didn't believe Aang which, was actually kind of horrible.

"You know you're… handsome, right?" Aang hedged. "People have told you that before?"

The colour on Zuko's cheeks got that little bit darker, "What does that have to do with anything."

So they had then, just not recently. Not since he got that scar Aang thought. "It has to do with you believing me when I tell you you're good looking." Screw romance, if there was one thing Aang was going to get through to Zuko tonight it was that he shouldn't be ashamed of how he looked. "Really."

"What do you want," Zuko barked, face completely red now.

"Why do I have to want something? Who told you that someone has to force a compliment out to ask something of you?" Friends? Family? The scar looked a few years old, the skin not raw, but not faded either like old scars got. How long had he had that scar around people back home?

A few deep breaths and Zuko was curling in on himself, knees to his chest, glare still in place as he near begged, "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I want to be able to tell you that you look nice without you thinking I'm lying." He didn't know how to get it through to him. If this is what Zuko had been thinking about for years about himself it wasn't going to change overnight. Still, "Look at me Zuko, does it look like I'm lying to you?" He didn't even wait for a reply, "I haven't ever seen you without that scar on your eye, and I don't know what you looked like before. But I do know what you look like now, and if I can think you're handsome with a mask on for a full year I can think you're handsome without it too."

There was silence for a beat, then Zuko stood and stormed off, Aang not seeing him again until well after nightfall. He still wrapped himself around Aang in his sleep, but from the nightmares, and the fact he woke up even before sunrise, it showed Aang he had his work cut out for him if he was going to break through whatever awful things Zuko had been telling himself.

Just another thing to add to his routine really.

They moved to another part of the forest, not wanting to get too comfortable in one place. This new patch of land didn't have a pool they, Zuko, could heat up. But it did have a nice meadow fox antelopes liked to graze in if they were extra quiet.

Aang had to find a new spot, him and Sokka carefully plotting it out so they were a good distance away from each other if they happened to go for a 'walk' at the same time. Thankfully they'd told the others they were collecting firewood since, while they did get a few odd looks for being gone so long, and going beyond their line of sight, they at least had an excuse that didn't lead to too many follow up questions.

"Your hair looks nice today," Aang told Zuko as he dumped his pile of twigs next to him, ready to be lit. He chanced a quick kiss, narrowly avoiding being burned as Zuko spat a little fire his way.

It was slow going, but Aang's new regime was gaining some results. Zuko wasn't actually threatening to kill him in his sleep anymore. Really, unless Aang chanced some actual bodily contact he just let Aang say what he wanted. But, Aang was a risk taker, and if he could get away with alleviating his crush, even a little bit, by seeing what Zuko's skin felt like under his lips for a moment he was going to take it. Fire or not.

He probably would have gotten a less volatile reaction really if he didn't keep kissing Zuko in the same spot. But, he was proving a point here. If kissing Zuko on his scarred cheek helped drive home that Aang wasn't disgusted by it then so be it. It wasn't like it was weird. Just different. A little hot, but, Aang was putting that down to Zuko's natural heat.

The others, except Toph who thought it was hilarious whenever she heard Aang's twinkle toes run away, thought it was sweet that they were 'being more couple-y'. He got a few odd looks from Sokka, mostly because there were the odd occasions when they did pass each other on mornings, but Katara, at least, thought Aang's daily compliments were the sweetest thing ever.

So, "You look very fearsome when you glare," "Did your arms get that nice from sword fighting or bending?, and other such things became Aang's main form of entertainment in the next few weeks. He never ran out of compliments either. Every day Aang just woke up, went off, and when he saw Zuko for the first time returning from his morning bending ritual knew just what to say to him that day. There was always something. Always.

Zuko stopped fighting them after a certain point too. His cheeks still grew red but instead of hissing at Aang to stop, or dragging him away to yell at him, he just took it. He even stopped spitting fire when Aang went in for a kiss. Which was a good thing, but, without the fire warding him off Aang was worried one of these days he was going to linger that little bit too long.

He'd saved up today's compliment for when they were bedding down, shuffling that little bit closer to Zuko on Appa's back. "You have a really nice smile. I thought I was hallucinating earlier," When Sokka walked face first into one of Toph's earth tents and spent the next five minutes thinking Toph had cursed him to lose his sight. Turned out she'd been using a new kind of mud. One that had stuck to Sokka's face. It had been kind of funny. "You should smile more often."

Zuko wasn't smiling now, those fire gold eyes peeking up at him, "I wish you wouldn't do that."

"Do what?" Aang asked, quickly leaning over to kiss his quickly becoming favourite spot.

"Or that," Zuko huffed.

Staying that little bit over Zuko he asked, "Is it because I'm a guy, or because it's your scar? If it's because of your scar then I'm not going to stop doing it. There's nothing wrong with you."

There was a pause, then those gold eyes shutting and Zuko turning his back on Aang.

"Night then," Aang sighed, curling up along Zuko's back, arms hanging over his waist in case the nightmares came for him that night.

It turned out it wasn't Zuko Aang should have been worried about. While he'd never had rested dreams being out here in the wild, he'd certainly not had too many distressing ones. Tonight however, proved to be an exception. Almost as soon as Aang closed his eyes, the heaviness of sleep dragging him down further and further the Spirit World grabbed him.

It didn't feel familiar, not in the sense the other parts did. Aang himself hadn't been here before. The other Avatars maybe, but him, no.

It was foggy, wrong somehow. It was like the essence the Spirit World held had been diminished somewhat, and why became apparent as voices started reaching his ears. They were mumbles first, Aang not making out what they were saying. It was like listening to them underwater, and as much as he would have liked not venturing further, his dream self didn't care what he wanted.

Onward he walked and the voices became clearer. Some of them stayed muffled, still too far away to see. But others? Others had words, had bodies, stumbling, roaming around a fog that seemed to wrap around them. Hold them. They couldn't dance themselves through the air, the fog didn't part for them like it did in Aang's dream.

Even if he'd never been here before he did recognise one of the voices in the mist. It… he didn't know how. When he saw the man up close he didn't recognise his face, his tone, nothing really, but, somehow, he was familiar. It wasn't until he screamed into the fog, victory high in his voice that he was the moon killer that Aang figured this must be the man from the North Pole. The one he'd seen clutching Tui before everything got, well, foggy.

Aang had wondered what had happened to the man. They hadn't come across his body when they'd been burying Fire Navy. But, then again, Zuko had been at it a few nights before Aang joined him. Maybe they had buried him.

As if thinking the name conjured it he heard, "Zuko?" come from his right. "Zuko?"

He passed a few more bodies before the woman came into sight. Dark hair, a white nightdress with blood staining the bottom half, she wasn't familiar to Aang's eyes. But she knew Zuko and, somehow, Aang thought he knew her. There was something about her, the way her jaw was shaped, that brow, she looked a little like Zuko.

"Zuko? What did you do? Where is he?" She demanded to no one, calling Zuko's name out again as she walked in circles, unseeing, in the fog.

Aang passed seven other people before he woke, his lungs heavy like he'd been sat on all night.

Zuko was still snoring next to him, and seeing that jaw was what made Aang remember the woman. It took a few minutes before Aang managed to make his hand shake Zuko awake. It could be nothing, he told himself. He didn't know it wasn't a dream.

"I'm not showing you firebending," Zuko grumbled eyes still shut.

"No," he shook Zuko's shoulder again, "It's not that. I… kind of had a dream."

Aang thought it a little odd that it was the scarred eye that peered up at him. Then again, if Aang hadn't been looking for that slither of gold he doubted he would have thought it open at all. Zuko must have worked out its strategic value almost-

No, wait, he could think on that later.

"Was it the face stealer?" Zuko asked.

"No." Wrong thing to say since Zuko turned on his side, "That doesn't mean it's not important." Or nothing. It could be nothing. "I saw someone. She was looking for you in some kind of fog."

"And?" Zuko rasped, back still to Aang.

"And she looked like you."

That got Zuko slowly rolling back. "So?"

"So," Aang started gently, "If I saw her in the Spirit World, maybe she's not in the present world anymore."

"Okay," Zuko breathed slowly, the reality starting to seep in.

"It could be nothing," Aang hoped it was nothing.

"You said the Spirit World?"

Aang described it as best he could. The feeling of it being lessened somewhat, but maybe that was because it was holding pure bodied humans instead of the souls that usually travelled to the Spirit World. It was definitely otherworldly however. Definitely that same feeling Aang had when he was meeting other spirits. When he was done Zuko didn't look soothed at all, his breathing had gotten a little jagged as he sat up, hands raking through his hair.

It felt like an age before Zuko finally asked, "What did she look like?"

Aang told him, knowing before he'd finished that she had been too old to be his sister. Aang had never put much thought into Zuko's mother before, was she like her husband? Did she endorse the bloodshed her marital family forced on the world? Was she kind to Zuko? He'd never thought to ask, and now he was beginning to think it was too late too.

"I'll wake the others," Aang said, leaping up, to shake everyone up. He had Appa's saddle on in record time, and only when they'd all packed up did Aang think to ask, "Where are we going?"

"Nowhere." Zuko's lip was trembling. His whole body was. Yet he still wanted to stay here. "We shouldn't be going. It could be nothing."

"Or it could be something," Aang countered.

"Aang's right," Katara said, "We don't understand these dreams. What if it's a premonition? Zuko you might have the chance to help her. And, I know she might not be the best pers-"

"She's nothing like my father."

Katara nodded, "Then we should be helping her. I know if it were my mother I'd be there in a heartbeat."

"But it's not your mother," Zuko bit out, swallowing heavily, "And we're not going. We're not jeopardising Aang for my mother. The world is at stake here."

Strategically, it made sense. But even Sokka, the actual man with a plan, was saying, "Aang's a big boy, and we're only checking. No one has to see us Zuko."

He didn't move. He didn't look to be doing anything.

"I'm going," Aang told him. "Even if you aren't. I'm going to check on her." She was at the royal palace right? He could sneak in there. Probably.

"Why?" Zuko demanded. "You're one element away from taking down my whole family. You should be staying here instead of going off on some half thought out idea that she might be in trouble."

He grabbed Zuko, wrapping his arms around him until he could feel how fast his heart was pounding. "I know you're scared, but if you don't go you'll be regretting this for the rest of your life." He held on that little bit tighter, feeling Zuko's shakes get a little worse. "You said your mom isn't like your dad and I believe you, that's why I'm going to see her. That's why you need to as well. You don't have to tell her you're alive," since that was what Zuko was worried about. Aang couldn't really wonder why, and he didn't want to either.

He let Zuko go, picking his glider up and hopping on top of Appa.

"If you really want to stay here you can, we'll be back in three days." Maybe longer since he wasn't actually sure how long it took to get to the Fire Lord's palace.

He waited a few more seconds, unsurprised when the Blue Spirit hopped up next to Toph. "Ba Sing Se," Zuko said.

"But-"

"Ba Sing Se."

It made sense, looking at the map over Zuko's mini hand flame. Ba Sing Se was nearer than the Fire Nation Capitol, and if something really had happened to Zuko's mother they would hear about it in Ba Sing Se. It helped with their cover too. Also, as Aang sat there listening to directions being given, it would take them four days to reach Ba Sing Se, longer to reach the Fire Nation capitol. By the time they actually got there it would be too late to do anything useful.

It was a long journey. One that was made longer as the easy atmosphere that had been following them of late was gone. Worry was high in the air, and with Aang not able to read Zuko that well with his mask on he just didn't know what to do. Any reassurances he could offer were pitiful at best. It wasn't like he could soothe Zuko with news of the Spirit World. These days his dreams were filled with past memories and floating bunny spirit guides rather than lost in that fog again. He didn't know if it was spiritual sabotage or what but Aang didn't appreciate this hide and seek game the Spirit World was playing with him.

Aang had only been to Ba Sing Se the once. It was just before his thirteenth birthday, when the monks had let him go visit the outside world for a couple of months. He'd never had reason to want to visit before, rumours of how it was run not really aligning with Aang's views. But, he'd given it a go anyway, namely because Bumi was there. His poor friend had been forced to go, his parents deciding that he may as well try and get on with some of the other royals in the Earth Kingdom.

It… had not gone exactly to plan for them.

Regardless, that one time Aang had visited Ba Sing Se was seared in his memory. All that high class and poverty sectioned off from one another. The weird feeling he got from the Dai Li. Everything really.

Somehow, knowing that, he couldn't imagine Ba Sing Se being ran any differently. It was too ingrained in its structure, which was why Aang was so surprised to see half of the walls in ruins when they did their first fly over.

The red he'd been expecting. After seeing Omashu Aang had imagined the deep green of Ba Sing Se to be replaced with Fire red. But the ruins? Definitely not.

It was kind of scary, actually, looking at it. For thousands of years no one had breached even the outer wall of Ba Sing Se. Yet here Aang was, seeing what a hundred years ago someone would have called impossible.

They set down a few miles outside of the outer wall. From above Aang could see that while they'd breached the walls they hadn't left them undefended. This Iroh was already rebuilding, the damage done already somewhat mended, and what wasn't had guards in Fire red stationed like an army themselves at every checkpoint.

"So," Aang started, not really knowing how to begin planning an undercover mission. Maybe they should have went to Omashu. That was under Fire Nation rule too, and, unlike Ba Sing Se, Aang actually knew how to sneak in there.

He caught movement out the corner of his eye, Katara beating him to it as she demanded, "Where do you think you're going?" To a Zuko that was vastly becoming smaller the longer Aang stood there unmoving.

"I'll be back before sun up," called back to them.

They shared a look, Aang, again, not sure what to do. "Do we..." Toph said, "Do we go after him?"

"Er, maybe?" Sokka answered.

Katara was more sure as she said, "Of course we do! We aren't just going to let him storm Ba Sing Se himself."

"Well," Sokka scratched the back of his head, "That's the thing, he's not storming it, and if his uncle is the one holding Ba Sing Se hostage he should know his way around." Right? That sounded right. It had to be, otherwise Zuko wouldn't have went in so sure of himself. Right? "Besides, one of us going in is actually more logically strategic than all of us. If we all went in and all got caught then, well," Bye bye Aang. "And he gave us a deadline. If he's not back by tomorrow morning then we start planning a breakout."

Yeah. That made sense. Completely logical. Not at all worrying that the longer Aang thought about Zuko's confidence the more he remembered that Zuko was a hot headed idiot that never actually thought ahead before acting. But it would be fine. It would be.

"So what do we do in the meantime?" Toph asked. "Sit around?"

"Pretty much," Sokka shrugged.

"Or," Katara countered, "We could be stocking up on supplies and asking the nearest village what they know of Ba Sing Se's layout."

Now that sounded better.

Hopping on top of Appa, they flew the distance to the nearest village a few hours away and after putting Appa and Momo down for a nap, stealthily integrated among the locals. With a headband on he still got a few odd looks, but, thanks to Zuko, he knew a few firebending moves that quickly made those looks go away. Even if it was conjuring up the tiniest of flames to check the inside of a few wares.

A few hours of tricking people out of their money, and Toph showing Aang that she could indeed make her own money if she wanted to, they had enough to buy Appa that hay he liked. As well as replace a few things they desperately needed. Like new clothes and, in Sokka's case, a new bag for him to put his club and maps in.

When they flew back to their meeting spot Aang didn't feel better, but he certainly didn't feel worse either. Sokka had a good idea of the layout of Ba Sing Se too, which certainly made them feel useful as they planned a good way to approach the outer walls as a group if Zuko really didn't meet back up with them.

"They said the best way to travel was by train," Sokka said, finger travelling the route it took into the city.

"Oh yeah, I remember the train," It had been something of a thrill getting to ride it. Especially because Bumi kept hanging out the windows and dared Aang to do the same. "But it only leads to the lower ring. And they probably have checkpoints now they're under new leadership."

Sokka waved a hand at that, "I'm sure we can come up with some disguises that'll get us past it."

But their clothes weren't the problem, the weapons Sokka was carrying on the other hand certainly were.

Also, once they got to the lower ring, how were they supposed to get to the palace. Worse, how were they supposed to get to Zuko. He'd been thinking about it, ever since he remembered that not all benders were taken to the camps and prisons. Some of them were out. Most of them had tried capturing Aang last year. "There's this guard, the Dai Li. They're earthbenders that usually guard the Earth King. I think they might still be around." They had to be. The Fire Nation wasn't completely stupid, they had to know there was some use for other benders, even if it was in their armies.

"So?"

"So, they're bad news." They had eyes everywhere. He remembered Bumi pulling him down so many alleys and rooftops because he got this 'feeling' they were being watched. Then later, at the Earth King's ball, Aang remembered Bumi being told off by his parents for being in the lower ring. Something they shouldn't have known about since, firstly, they were wearing disguises while they were down there and, secondly, they'd been careful. Real careful. Unless they had a watch on them as soon as they stepped foot inside the palace there was no way anyone should have been able to know where they'd went.

They made plans well into the night, and then when no one actually went to sleep when it was proposed, they found other things to do. Aang didn't think he'd combed Appa's fur out for at least two years but he was certainly doing it now. It took hours, and by the end of it Aang was having a pretty one sided conversation about just why it wasn't a good idea to fly into clouds, but it had wasted time and that was the main thing. Also, if Appa was inhumanely fluffier now that he'd been brushed out that was just a bonus for Aang.

The sun rose at a glacial pace. "Come on, come on, come on." There was no sign of Zuko. Not when the sun poked out from the hills, and not when it was halfway over them.

He wasn't there.

"Right." Swallowing heavily, Aang grabbed his glider. "We'll check the palace first. If he's not there, we'll grab a Dai Li agent and make them tell us where they keep their prisoners."

The others nodded, Sokka strapping his weapons on himself.

Covering his tattoos Aang stole a few of Zuko's dark clothes and made himself as bland as possible. He was tucking his necklace under his high shirt when he heard, "Aang," and a dark figure sprinting up the hill.

He met Zuko half way, heart pounding high in his chest. "You're back." He was okay. He had his mask on too, so Aang could only hope they hadn't found out who he was.

The hug may have lingered a little longer than it should, Aang not wanting to let go. But he had to, and as soon as he did he was yanking that damn mask off to make sure Zuko hadn't gotten himself battered.

Zuko let it happen. He let Aang bully him out of his shirt and onto Appa's saddle. He let the others ask question after question, and didn't even complain when Aang suggested they leave. He did nothing but sit there in silence, hand clasped over a scroll he refused to let go of.

They landed when night fell in somewhere the trees looked dense enough to hide them. Aang started the fire, the rest of them sitting on their rolls just waiting for Zuko to say something.

He didn't. For three whole days as they travelled and slept he kept his mouth shut, Aang just knowing it was something bad. He was worried, more than anything, that Zuko didn't want to tell them because he thought the rest of them wouldn't care. His mother was a Fire Princess, and wasn't exactly known for being outspoken against the war. Who knew what she was like as a person, regardless of Zuko saying she was nothing like his father.

Eventually, on that third night, after Aang had watched him cry silently when he thought no one was looking, Zuko handed the scroll over. He didn't even look at Aang as he read it, tucking his head in his favourite spot on Aang's collarbone. "It's childish, I know," Aang barely heard.

"It's not."

Princess Ursa wasn't dead like Aang had feared. But it was debatable whether she was alright.

The scroll itself was a casual correspondence between Ursa and Iroh, familiar enough for people who had spent a good eighteen years around each other. It was asking after Iroh, after Lu Ten, who Aang remembered was Zuko's cousin. Then it got down to other issues, ones she'd said were spoken about in another letter. Did Zuko read them too? Had he only took this one because his mother had wrote it? Whatever the case it went over it again. The baby, the baby , was okay. Alive. Healthy. A firebender in the making so Ozai was concerned. Kiyi was overjoyed with her new brother, as was Ozai. That had been said more than once in the letter, like it was important, like having a new baby wasn't always a happy occasion. The birth was hard, ' I fear for a moment I slipped into the Spirit Realm. I couldn't see my baby' . Then, to make things worse, ' We're naming him Zuko,'

It was- Aang didn't even-

He rubbed his eyes. What was he supposed to do with this? His eyes started tearing. How was he supposed to handle this? It wasn't even his family and he just-

"I'm so sorry." He should have kept his mouth shut. Or at least investigated himself before telling Zuko. But how was he supposed to know Zuko's family was sick enough to replace him. "I don't even know what to say."

Zuko shook his head, "You don't have to say anything."

He held Zuko tight that night, trying to will everything he wanted to say, that he was important, that it was going to be okay, into his hug.

Zuko burned the scroll in the morning.


	13. Chapter 13

They moved on. They found a new place to hide out and things tried to go back to normal. The others didn't know, Zuko didn't tell them and Aang didn't know if it was even his place to. They meant well, but the problem was that they couldn't be careful about something they didn't know about, so they did the only thing they could and tried to pretend everything was alright. Aang went back to lessons, Zuko to sulking or, on occasion, training with Sokka and they'd tell stories around the fire about happier times. Except, "I don't even know who this Kiyi is," Zuko said one evening.

"You don't-" How long had they been trying to replace Zuko?

"Mother must have had her after I was… but father hasn't touched her in years," Zuko hissed, "So-" he scrubbed his eyes.

So was it Zuko's death that prompted them to have another baby? Whose idea was it? Zuko, Aang could tell, wanted to put the blame on his father, just the way he spoke about Ozai to Aang late at night told him Zuko was sure this baby idea was his fathers'. That it was some way to spite his memory.

"He never liked me," Zuko said another night, turned away from Aang but even without seeing his face Aang could hear the tears in his eyes. "He used to tell me he was going to throw me out the window when I was born. He thought I wasn't a bender. That there was no fire in my eyes. He's been trying to cover his mistake for years." The mistake of letting Zuko live.

Aang didn't know what to do. The more he learned about Zuko's family the more he was left speechless.

"Guess he can have the son he always wanted now."

Aang knew Zuko didn't want to think bad of his mother but, well, she was the one birthing the infant. It certainly crossed Zuko's mind too as, another evening Aang watched Zuko beat down on a rock again and again, his fire growing wilder until he was screaming fire at it. It was more sad than impressive, and while the others left, Aang knowing fire made them uncomfortable, he stayed. He didn't want Zuko to think he was alone.

"She didn't mention Azula," was what was usually said to Aang a month after they learned about Zuko's new brother. He was fixated on it. "It wasn't in my father's letter. Or my grandfathers. Usually father loves… he used to love taking every opportunity to tell my uncle what a prodigy Azula was."

"Maybe she's busy," Aang offered.

"Maybe she's married," Zuko whispered, horror strong in his tone.

"Is that a bad thing?" So she was sixteen. That was something Aang hadn't known about.

"For whoever she's married to," Zuko said.

But they would have heard if there was a royal wedding. Right? There was certainly celebration enough for the royal baby the scarce times they went to the villages and towns.

So maybe not married, and that alone had Zuko wracking his brains wondering what happened to her. No amount of Aang saying she was fine, she was probably busy with friends, she was a teenage princess she was probably enjoying the high life had Zuko any less worried. It was strange. For someone Zuko said was almost pure evil he sure was concerned about her.

The firebending got worse, or better, depending on how someone looked at it. Zuko practiced it almost daily, repeating forms over and over again, his fire flowing from his fingers almost uncontrollably. It was as terrifying as it was beautiful and sitting there, watching, Aang started to understand why Zuko wouldn't teach him.

It wasn't that he didn't know enough. Zuko knew the basics and, well, the basics were what Aang needed to learn before he got onto more advanced stuff. But there was this chaos that came with firebending, a way that dipped its toe into the freedom of airbending but was restrained enough not to destroy everything in its path. If Aang had learned firebending first he didn't think he could have the control Zuko had. Even angry as he was Aang wouldn't call Zuko out of control. It was wild, yes, and undoubtedly dangerous, but somehow Zuko was holding onto that last bit of control that stopped it from completely engulfing whatever it saw.. Zuko had learned well, he'd learned the hard way, that he couldn't let his fire go.

For such a hot headed idiot that liked to throw himself at situations he could be smart sometimes.

Sometimes.

Zuko was sitting on the edge of a cliff one day, Aang perching next to him, sliding a bag of sweets over. The town the cliff overlooked was having a sort of party celebrating Prince Zuko's official name day. All day Aang had heard Zuko being called in the streets, his heart near stopping in thought they'd been found out. Every time he remembered that it was a different Zuko, it drove another stake of hate through him. Another baby, sure, Aang understood that. People did weird things when they were grieving, and they were the royal family, of course they were expected to have heirs and spares. But calling the baby after their first born son? That wasn't right. After everything Aang had heard about Zuko's father he could accept this level of spite from that kind of man. But Zuko's mother? It was no wonder Zuko refused to step foot inside the town.

"You know we want you, right?" Aang said.

Zuko didn't say anything, shuffling the sweets further onto his lap.

"I… I know it's not the same and I know every time you see your brother it's going to hurt but, it's not his fault. It's not your fault either." Just in case his thoughts went that way. "I love you Zuko, even if no one else does. I want you around, and not because you hopped on Appa one day and I've never been able to get rid of you. I like you. You're my family. You're the only family I have left and even if you don't feel the same I don't care, because it's not going to stop me from feeling the way I do."

He debated only a second before taking Zuko's chin and planting a quick kiss on his scar. "I love you," he said again, leaving Zuko to his brooding.

Zuko was a little more himself that night. Usually, when they bedded down, Aang had to purposefully cool himself down since it felt like he was sleeping next to an actual dragon when he was in a mood. But tonight, even if Zuko was still quiet, he wasn't a blazing inferno like he had been of late. Just a little warm.

Things weren't better, but they didn't get worse.

They went to a few more towns, mostly because Aang was almost dying from starvation as Sokka kept forgetting that Aang didn't eat meat and, well, when it was one out of five he had to appeal to the majority.

They were all a little skinny, a little underfed and stretched thin as their bodies pulled through the worst of puberty. Aang grew a few more inches. Sokka too, which meant their clothes weren't exactly wearable anymore. They clung too tight to his ankles, and despite not being fed enough he was still doing his forms, Sokka too trained, meaning their shoulders were broader than their clothes liked. No amount of sewing worked either. The cloth they did have wasn't the right colour, and while it worked for being out in the wild, they did go into town every now and then. So, as much as Aang would have liked to spend his last few coins on some nuts or, oh that mouthwatering noodle soup he could smell, he handed it over to a cloth merchant.

It was dark, mostly red where it accented, and most definitely Fire Nation. It was certainly a different style to what he was used to, the shirt opening up at the middle rather than the side like his old robes used to. It wasn't a bad thing, just something he would have to get used to. It was bigger, was the main thing. Big enough he could grow a few more inches and it not be a problem.

He didn't think he looked too bad in it. "It'll certainly help us blend in more," he said, holding still as Katara wrapped a headband around his tattoos. His hair did the rest, long enough now to show no signs of blue through his scalp.

Sokka scowled, turning his own pants this and that way, "I don't know. Green I could probably get away with but I just don't think red's my colour."

"I think you both look great," Toph said.

"Well thank you," Sokka said, Aang sniggering into his hand as he finally realised that Toph, well, she just couldn't see them. "You know a simple no comment is more than enough."

"Stop," Katara butted in before something else started, "And yes Aang we will blend in more." Maybe not Katara since Toph, well, she had her Earth Kingdom garb. Actually, just Katara was sticking out like a sore thumb these days.

Sokka, undeterred, posed next to Aang, daring Zuko, "What do you think hothead? Is seeing Aang in Fire Nation red doing anything for you?"

If looks could kill Sokka would be in a six foot grave by now.

Aang ignored the glare, sidling up to Zuko as non threateningly as he could, "Speaking of fire, I've been doing really well in my earthbending. Like, really well, tell him Toph."

Toph gave a shrug, "He's got the basics down, we're working on more advanced forms these days. Nothing too fancy but it's nothing to turn your nose up at either."

Not exactly a glowing recommendation but, "See. And," he butted in before Zuko could, "I know you said we need to look for a better teacher but, as I always tell you, I don't need another teacher to teach me the basics. No use blowing our cover when you could be telling me to breathe for half the day until I get it."

Zuko didn't look like he was going to murder Aang. Which was good.

"Just as much as you can teach me," Aang asked.

"Psst," Came behind him, Aang turning to see Sokka make a rather lewd gesture, the message clear.

Honestly, Aang wouldn't be against feeling Zuko up a little, but things weren't like that between them and, Aang was pretty confident in his abilities to get Zuko to agree with him without resorting to such underhanded methods.

"The basics," Zuko agreed after a while.

"The basics," Aang grinned.

Since Aang still had to train with Katara and Toph his day got split again. He heard Zuko arguing with both of them now he was taking on Aang's teaching. Apparently he needed to teach Aang when the sun was up, telling Katara, if not Toph, to move her teaching down since she could work with the moon. He didn't get involved, it was a miracle Zuko was agreeing to teach him at all, he wasn't going to jeopardise it with getting in the middle of petty things like what time Aang was going to be learning it.

Their first lesson was just how Aang thought it would be, sitting there breathing for a few hours. Meditation was something Aang was good at, but this technically wasn't meditation. Instead of clearing his mind, Aang was looking for the heat he kept inside his lungs, trying to bring it forward.

That was the first ten lessons. It was important apparently. Proof when, as Aang tried real firebending for the first time he noticed the difference when he properly managed his breath control.

"Caution is always a necessity," Zuko said one day, then proceeded to let Aang burn as much rock as he possibly could.

He couldn't really burn it, what with it being rock and all, but just the pure freedom of letting all that fire out left him exhilarated when he finally tired out. The whole point of the lesson was control, and Aang understood when Zuko had him do the same as he did to the rock to a log that control wasn't something he would have understood if he hadn't mastered water and earth beforehand.

"You understand?" Zuko asked at the end of that lesson, Aang watching the last bit of bark crumpling in on itself.

"Yeah." Water introduced him to change, to new forms and new ways of moving. Earth introduced him to control, to decisiveness and patience. So now, when he was introduced to fire, he was willing to see and understand that there was more to the element than simply waving his arms around and letting fire fly. "You'll teach me how to control it, right?"

Zuko nodded, and the next morning he had Aang sit through breathing techniques again.

He got a lot less sleep now he had three elements to master. Zuko got him in the morning since they did wake up together and the morning was when Zuko usually did his training. Toph got the afternoon, taking pure delight in creating more and more elaborate games for Aang to play. The latest was some sort of wrestling contest, Aang honestly wondering where a girl like Toph had ever heard of it. Surely her parents would have kept her away from anything remotely dangerous looking. Wherever she heard of it she enjoyed playing it with Aang, which meant that by the time evening fell, Aang had a lot of bruises for Katara to try mending before both of them got down to waterbending.

"Okay," Zuko said one morning, hand hovering over Aang's where a small flame was sitting, "Now make it bigger. Just big enough to lick my hand."

It took a moment for Aang's mind to process over 'lick my hand', when he did he focused on the fire in his hand, willing it, not hotter, but bigger since there was a difference. According to Zuko, even the smallest of flames could be hotter than the largest of fires, it all depended on what the bender willed. He'd went on to explain that a lightning bolt wasn't as big as a forest fire, yet a lightning bolt was more dangerous and hotter by half. It was a controlled force of heat, which is why Aang was working both of those principles in his lessons.

They were practicing heat and shape again when Katara came running back from the village her and Sokka had went to for breakfast. "They did it," she panted, "They did it."

"Who did what?" Toph asked.

From the way Katara straightened Aang knew it wasn't a good 'they did it'. "Ozai. They're talking about it everywhere. He's taken the North Pole."

Oh no. "No, no, no, no, no."

"It's not your fault," Zuko said.

Except, "It is my fault. If I hadn't have left-"

"Then you wouldn't have learned earthbending," Zuko stated. "We had to leave. You know we had to leave."

"But we should have went back!" They'd had Toph for, what, four months now? They should have went straight back to the North Pole as soon as they found her. There had to be some form of earth there she could have used to teach him. They could have practiced in the open as well, instead of hiding out here. "We should have went back."

Zuko wasn't good with words, preferring to retreat than console, and he did so now, sitting a good distance from the rest of them, like it was him personally that had invaded the North Pole. Aang wanted to tell him to cut it out, that just because it was his dad it didn't mean they blamed him but he was just so angry. So stuck and helpless here sitting like a coward when he had this power for a reason.

He'd made a promise in the air temple. He'd said he was going to make a difference, to stop this from happening and what? What's he done since then? He staved off one attack, great, but he didn't stop the other. He didn't save the last free people in this world from being crushed. He hasn't done anything except hide out.

He went off for a while, flying around on his glider, uncaring at this point if he was seen. He had a decision to make.

It took hours. Hours of flying over villages, of sitting on cliffs and beating back the feeling of being watched as he strolled through the woods that sat on the edge of the Earth Kingdom. It was when he was going back, flitting over another village that his decision was made.

"I'm going to try and do something," Aang said to the rest.

Katara sighed, a soft, "Aang," telling him just what she thought he meant.

"Not the North Pole. They're… I don't think I can help them right now." A newly conquered city, as Zuko would tell him later, was a precocious and dangerous thing to try and take back. Their army would be defeated, not hiding, defeated. There wouldn't be anyone capable of helping even if they wanted to. Aang wasn't fluent in the art of war, but even uneducated as he was he had a feeling, then, that it wouldn't be a good thing to fling himself at a newly conquered North Pole. Not while Ozai was basking in his victory. Besides, "I've been thinking. With Ozai in the north and Iroh in Ba Sing Se there's no one important guarding the outlying islands. I know they won't be happy to see me, but it's not about me, it's about them, about gaining their independence back. I know it's a lot to ask of you, but I'm going to do it anyway, it's up to you whether you want to help or not."

It was a lot to ask, and so when silence descended Aang didn't take it personally. Taking a seat at the edge of the fire he grabbed Sokka's maps and started looking for the islands furthest away from the Fire Nation capitol. If they started out and moved inwards the Fire Nation would have a longer way to travel, and longer travel meant slower correspondence.

About an hour after dark, when Aang had only the small flame he could conjure by himself now to see the maps, a dark finger lingered on one of the larger islands. "This is Kyoshi Island," Sokka said, "We stopped there on our way to the North Pole. There are parts of it that won't be happy to see you, but, you said you didn't care so I think it's best we start there first."

"Why?"

One of Sokka's dark brows lifted, something Aang would call a smirk if it weren't weighed down with worry pulling at his lips, "Just trust me okay."

Aang nodded.

They packed up in the morning, Sokka and Zuko dragging Aang into the saddle and telling Katara to steer as they briefed him on the beginners guide to battle. It was kind of scary how much they knew about war. If this had been a hundred years ago, unless they'd joined the army, no one their age would have a clue about what they were talking about. It just wasn't common knowledge. But this wasn't a hundred years ago. War was in their blood, had been for generations now. They'd been brought up being warned about surprise attacks and massacres. They'd lived through bloodshed and fear and here they were now, telling Aang the best of what they knew.

"Our best bet is to get the Warriors of Kyoshi on our side," Sokka said, "They're loyal to the Avatar, but after the comet they went underground. They stayed out of the war as best they could but, if you're loyal to the Avatar you aren't exactly on the Firelord's side."

"But you met them," Aang pressed. That wasn't too long ago either.

Sokka nodded, "We met them. It was while Katara was spreading the word you were back."

"Thanks for that by the way."

A roll of his eyes and Sokka went on, "They were warning us to keep our mouth shut. For good reason too."

Zuko took over after that, telling Aang the insides of a conquered civilisation. "They're people, so, unless they get orders from their superior's they're just going to be doing their jobs." Something that didn't sit right with Aang considering he was going to have to fight them. "Those jobs are mainly surveillance, guarding the port and keeping the peace." He sucked on his lower lip for a second, "You may not want to hear this but, it has been two years since the comet."

"Right." He didn't have a clue where this was going.

Zuko knew so too as he explained, "When soldiers are away from home, some of them with no families, they might try and… make a home for themselves."

"Integration or… forced integration?"

Zuko shrugged, "A bit of both. Just because you label them Fire Nation doesn't mean there aren't good and bad people in that category. I'm sure some soldiers are perfectly nice, that they genuinely treat their new home as a home." And there were probably people the exact opposite too. Soldiers who abused their rank for personal gain.

Aang rubbed his eyes, "So how am I supposed to tell the good people from the bad?"

Zuko shrugged again, "You can't. Which is why we're going to focus on destroying their way off the island rather than kicking them out."

Together, Zuko and Sokka were just scary. Zuko's impulsiveness coupled with Sokka's careful thinking meant they had a plan, and a pretty good one, by the time Kyoshi reared its head.

The interesting thing about Kyoshi was that it didn't connect to the Earth Kingdom mainland at all. Which meant there were only two ways onto the island.

They split into two teams, Katara, Sokka and Toph on one and Aang and Zuko on the other. "No sneaking off you two," Sokka grinned.

"Nice," Zuko sneered, "That could be the last thing you ever say to us, you know that right?"

They got a rude gesture in response, Aang catching the quirk to Zuko's lips as they covered Appa with one last leaf and started on their own mission.

As logical as it would have been for them to split up and conquer the air and water ships separately, as they'd learned from a quick, hidden, flyover, they weren't kept in two different places. Actually, they were kept together at various ports on the island, which meant splitting up.

It took hours to walk to the port, sneaking between trees and houses so they wouldn't be seen. When they did get there it was certainly an interesting sight. There were guards, a sort of checkpoint actually, where they inspected goods that came off the ships. The ships themselves were something intimidating. Aang was used to barges, maybe the odd rowboat, not these large metal beasts. Thankfully he'd faced them before at the North Pole otherwise Aang would be relying on Zuko to tell him how best to destroy them.

"Now or sundown?" Aang hissed.

With the Blue Spirit mask on Aang only got two taps as an answer. Sundown.

A good choice since the last of the trading ships left long before the sun set, while the rest of the guards either changed shifts or went home for the evening. That wasn't to say security wasn't still tight, but it was certainly manageable now.

Zuko took the low ground, Aang spying him zipping behind structures and under tables as he glided onto the first airship. Thankful it was night, and his new clothes were dark enough to hide him, he slashed the fabric that would inflate and moved onto the next. It didn't take too long, and if that were the end of it Aang would be happy, but, a slash was easy to fix, which meant moving onto the tricky part.

Dropping down into the actual ship it took some searching to find the engine room. Rumour had it these things were designed by an inventor that used to live in one of the abandoned air temples. Aang wondered if that man was still living. If he knew what the Fire Nation was using his inventions for. Aang knew he wouldn't be too pleased if someone had stolen his ideas for such evil purposes. These were the ships that helped burn half the Earth Kingdom after all.

Since it was made of metal, all Aang had to do was burn it until it was mush. Again, not difficult. What was difficult was listening and hoping no one had spotted him. Also working as fast as he possibly could because Zuko certainly didn't have to wander around a ship in hopes he'd find the right place. He'd grown up with those designs, meaning Aang heard the first explosion go up long before he was finished fully dismantling his third airship.

It was pure chaos. While Zuko had created a diversion that wasn't to say no one was going to check the airships. Aang almost got blasted seven times as he dived for the next ship, then the next.

It was terrifying.

Firstly because Aang wasn't a fighter. He hadn't grown up expecting to wage war on people. The most the monks had told him he'd probably have to do was go to balls or peace talks, try and keep the peace between the four nations. They hadn't counted on the war. They'd heard it might be possible, but everyone back then had thought it was just talk. Actually fighting, aiming to hurt, to kill for the Fire Nation, wasn't anywhere near what Aang had thought he'd be doing in his lifetime. Yet here he was, and every time he sent an air current those soldiers way there was a prickling at the back of his neck that was just waiting for something to happen. Something awful. Something like a Spirit take his body over. For him to lose time, and control of himself and wake up to bodies of men and women just doing their jobs staring sightlessly at him.

The explosions kept on coming and so did the guards. It felt like hours Aang spent knocking people out, stopping them from alerting others and just generally running away so he could finish burning down the last of the ships. But, really, it couldn't have been too long. The sun was still down when Aang hurried over to the burning wreckage of the last sea ship, blowing back the five men Zuko was fighting and dragging him further inland.

Those not unconscious gave chase as best they could, a bell sounding over and over, joined by others as the other port on the other side of the island tried to warn this one there were sabatoers.

"Did you set it?" Almost as soon as he'd finished speaking he felt the earth vibrate, an explosion of trapped air destroying the last of the port. There hadn't been many people on the sand, and those in the destroyed airships should be fine, the sturdy metal protecting them.

Aang hoped anyway as another explosion spiralled into the air, seen even on this side of Kyoshi.

It was a start.

Giving the guards the slip, Aang and Zuko spent the rest of the night hiding in the trees. When the sun rose they went back to the port. Glider in hand, Aang tied his headband around his wrist and whistled loud enough for even the guards waving down one of the far off ships to turn.

Speaking of the ships, Aang braced himself before setting a wave large enough to knock them off course for a good few hours their way. Maybe even capsize one of them, for which Aang would feel guilty about later.

It was a lot of work getting to the point in which the firebenders sat and listened rather than fling fire at him. Work that mostly involved knocking people out again until those left conscious were so outnumbered they'd try their hands at listening rather than joining their friends.

Aang took the high ground, clearing his throat a few times before announcing, "I'm the Avatar." He'd had a whole speech planned out. It was a good speech too. Yet, up here, all Aang could think to say was, "Er, and as the Avatar I'm trying to claim Kyoshi back?" He looked to Zuko who was no help at all with that damn mask on. So, "And as I have claimed Kyoshi back," Since, well, there weren't all that many soldiers on Kyoshi, not compared to other villages. Aang blamed the distance between here and the Fire Nation Capitol. "You're all going to stand trial for your crimes. So, er, grab your friends and start marching. Or I'll blast you."

It wasn't the best speech, but considering they didn't have any means of escape unless they wanted to swim, and, well, they didn't know that Aang wasn't a master of all four elements, the fear that he was the Avatar was enough to have the Fire soldiers doing what he asked.

They marched the guards for hours across the island until they came to the village nestled in the middle. Katara, Sokka and Toph were already there, their own soldiers looking tired and beat up enough to suggest they hadn't waited until morning like Aang and Zuko to round them up.

There were other people at the main village hall too, much more than there should be for the few houses they'd passed in this part of the island. Aang had heard a few people look out of their doors as they marched the soldiers onwards, he just didn't think they'd followed.

Looked like he was wrong.

"Now what?" He asked the others, all five of them huddling to a corner.

"Now we put them on trial," Katara said, Aang not completely liking the fire in her eyes.

"Yeah," he knew that, "but how?" and what were they going to do with the Fire Nation that they declared guilty?

"Easy," Katara said, "We bring them up one by one and tell them they're going to spend the rest of their lives in prison."

There was a beat of silence then, "Wow that's dark," from Toph of all people.

Katara looked at them all, "Oh come on, they're Fire Nation. None of them are going to be innocent."

"I mean…" Sokka pointed to Zuko. "And," he held his hands up, "I'm not saying that some of them don't deserve prison or being stuck in ice for the rest of their lives," just what had they been discussing before Aang got here? "But some of them don't."

"Well luckily it's not up to you," Katara said.

"It's not up to you either," Aang said. "It's not up to any of us." He glanced at the crowd of worried faces and tied up soldiers, running to the first high point he could find before whistling as loud as he could, "Everyone, if you know someone who isn't here, I need you to go get them now. It's important."

Mumbling broke out among the crowd, then one brave person asked, "What's going on?"

He debated saying something now but, "I'll tell you when everyone is here. Be quick, we don't have much time."

Some left, most stayed, and in the time it took for the crowd to get even larger Aang bore witness to a girl in familiar makeup punch Sokka so hard in the arm even Toph was impressed.

Aang gave it a few more minutes before whistling the crowds attention again. Once more, getting it out of the way, Aang said, "So, I'm the Avatar," He pushed his hair up, showing off his tattoos as best he could. "And what's going to happen is that we're going to have a trial. I…" even with the revelation he was the Avatar he could see the fear on people's faces. Katara had said she'd spread his 'message of hope', Aang didn't think these people even knew what the meaning of that word meant anymore. "I'm not here to conquer you." That was what was important. "I'm not here to enforce a new government or tell you what to do. And I know I've not been here for you, which is why I'm letting you decide what you want to do. This trial can go ahead, and if it does I trust in you to do the right thing, to be fair in your judgement. And I trust that maybe that's not how things are done here. I didn't come here to conquer," He said again, "I came here to help you gain back your independence. And if that means keeping this status quo, or forging a new one that's up to you to decide, not me. I just did the blowing up, it's up to you to keep the peace."

He jumped down debating hopping up again when he saw the murderous look Katara was sporting. But he'd been right in what he'd said. This wasn't their island, these weren't their people. They'd come here to help, and maybe they had, but that was up to Kyoshi island to decide.

"So this is Aang," Sokka introduced as soon as Aang got near them. "Aang this is Sukki. She's a Warrior of Kyoshi." All capitals.

He gave her a short bow. "It's nice to meet you. Sokka's told us a little about you."

Sharp eyes narrowed in Sokka's direction, "Did he now?"

"Only the important stuff," Sokka promised.

"So not that I knocked you on your ass the first time we met?"

Aang liked Sukki, he liked her a lot.


	14. Chapter 14

He didn't so much like the few villagers that came up to him not long after his speech and started calling him a murderer. But he let them say their piece. Just like he let others come up to him and ask if their poor Cheng or Lee was really going to stand trial.

"That's up to you," He told them, which just led to more people coming up to him demanding that they couldn't let Cheng or Lee go.

Eventually, cementing Aang's love for the woman, Sukki screamed, "Hey!" so loud the whole island went silent and started informing them, much better than Aang had, just what the Avatar had done for them.

It took hard work, hours of it, and between that time Aang and Katara nipped back to the ocean front to make sure no one would be disturbing them, but, eventually, Sukki managed to organise an actual solution to the chaos Aang had brought her. Kyoshi Island was one for trials, public trials, and, as she told Aang, usually it would just be one of the village heads deciding if someone was guilty or not guilty.

"But that was a long time ago," she said.

This time the whole island would decide what was in their best interest. Sukki, for all that she told Aang this could have went better if they'd had a more thought out plan, didn't deny that her people needed this. That they weren't happy living under this new rule and they did recognise that this was their one shot for independence. The problem was the repercussions of doing this weren't going to stay quiet and contained for long.

Aang had seen the ships. He knew that some people were talking about exile. At some point someone would let slip that Kyoshi had fallen out of Fire Nation rule.

"But we can talk about that after we sort out this mess," Sukki said.

Aang felt guilty just hanging around her after that statement.

They took it in turns to scout the ocean. When it was clear, they'd come back and sit to listen as, one by one, the invaders were brought up and assessed by the island whether it would be, not only justified, but a liability to let them continue on with their lives.

The whole thing was strange. It was strange seeing this happen at all. For this sort of trial to have a reason for being. But it was also strange to see quite a lot of Fire Nation soldiers beg to stay with their families. The families they'd made on Kyoshi. Honest families too. Actual weddings and love and babies, so many babies. Most of all it was strange to see them interact. A hundred years ago the four nations were just that, the four nations. They kept to themselves, talked to themselves, liked being with themselves. Very rarely did Aang see tribes and kingdoms intermixing.

Yet here they were.

There was a Fire Nation woman with an native Kyoshi man and one little fire baby cradled in his arms. There was another family, fire nation kids that had been brought over from one of the fire islands to live with their new step parent.

It was as incredible as it was sad that a war had to happen for this to have taken place at all. While Aang hated the very idea of what Sozin had done, he couldn't deny that there was always a silver lining in every bad thing that happened. It might not be a big silver lining. It might not even be a silver lining to these people at all, it certainly wasn't for Katara, but for Aang, seeing nations intermingling, integrating even, was nice.

There were also those that weren't so nice. The problem was that no one person was loved by everyone and weighing those testimonies against the others.

The trial lasted a week. One whole week of people recalling other soldiers back to the stand who had already had judgment passed. One whole week of people crying, laughing, screaming as they were dragged off to cells the Kyoshi Warriors had taken personal care over.

The ships from other colonies had tried every day to land on Kyoshi, and every day Aang and the others beat them back. On the one hand, Aang was getting rather tired of fending off boats. On the other, actually seeing the Avatar try and keep the Fire Nation from taking Kyoshi back was gaining him more favour with the locals every day. Such favour meaning they got free rooms for the nights, and free food, which, to Aang's starving body was greatly appreciated.

What also helped, Aang had found, was that the people who did look to him for some kind of guidance, who did believe in their hearts he was here to be their new ruler, felt easier about sticking up for their Fire soldier when Sokka let it slip that the Blue Spirit was a firebender. Not only that, but apparently at the time Katara had been arguing that the trials were pointless, so when Sokka swooped in asking if Katara thought they should put the Blue Spirit on trial, Aang's 'husband' they figured if the Avatar could keep his own firebender they could keep theirs.

Of course, that led to more questions. Namely from kids around Aang's age, maybe a little older, coming up to him asking if he was going to repeal that whole same sex law.

"I mean," He scratched his head, "If Kyoshi didn't have it before the Fire Nation took over why should you have it now." He wasn't going to tell them what to do. "Decide for yourselves."

It didn't stop the questions. Actually Aang overheard a few girls corner Zuko one day and ask him where he'd married Aang. Whether they'd snuck away to the Air Temples to do it. Did the Avatar conduct the rites himself? Was it when he was learning waterbending? They'd noticed the necklace, as well as Katara's, and being so near to the Southern Water Tribe they knew a little of their customs. Which led to Zuko being harassed more and more as actual kids came up to him and asked him to prove he wasn't an awful artist.

Once the trials were done, Aang was roped into, he wanted to call it a war council but, in reality, it was just a room full of village elders and Kyoshi warriors trying to impress their opinion on him. There was no war spoken about, just them running ideas past him like he hadn't already told them that he wanted no part in their freedom.

Sukki, wonderful, amazing Sukki, was the one to finally coordinate these meetings, filtering out who should and shouldn't be there until Aang was in a real, actual war council. This time with more than just Kyoshi natives in it.

At the sight of the two firebenders present Aang had to physically back out of the room and tell Sokka about it. Together they had to break the news gently to Katara since, well, Aang wasn't going to kick them out.

She wasn't happy. The water mark on both Aang and Sokka's faces proved that. But she held her tongue about it, sitting quietly as Sukki rolled out Sokka's maps and told Aang fifty other, better, ways of freeing Kyoshi.

"Honestly it's like you came up with it overnight, who just dives in and hopes for the best in war?"

Aang didn't answer. He saw Sokka and Zuko slumping a little further down in their seats too.

Nevertheless Sukki, eventually, moved on from showing him up to helping him.

"You're not making a mess like this again." Meaning the next island they were going to 'take over' was going to have the Warriors of Kyoshi behind him.

Which he did.

The next few months Aang was shown what a well organised and powerful force people could be when they were fighting for their freedom. It wasn't easy, and it was far from quick, but by early Spring they had nine islands free of Fire Nation rule.

"They'll be keeping the earthbenders in the yard most of the day," Lee said, "They use them for free labour and because the whole thing is made of metal so, they can't really bend there."

Aang nodded listening to Sokka and Sukki decide which part of the prison they were going to scale. "We really appreciate your help. You know that right?"

Lee nodded. He was nothing more than a kid. Fifteen and send to the colonies to 'keep the peace'. He was one of the few firebenders that didn't care so much about the war as getting to go home. Aang knew Zuko was going to be talking to him later, like he did with the rest of the fire soldiers that didn't just drop their weapons and turn a blind eye. The ones that helped them, that helmed the boats and airships. Zuko took every one of those personally and it was kind of sweet seeing him pester kids like Lee.

Mostly because Zuko refused to take his mask off. The amount of times Aang had heard one of the kids shriek because Zuko had snuck up on them left him wheezing into the ground. They always looked so terrified of him. Aang even heard them telling horror stories about Zuko to the other firebenders in their camp. Aang went to bed most nights laughing as he remembered one of the kids say something like, 'he asked if I needed help sewing up my shirt,' the mere tone they used like they were facing the firelord himself.

"It's not funny," Zuko huffed, mask to the side and pouting at the ceiling.

"It is," Aang wheezed. "Please, I'm begging you, ask one of them if they washed behind their ears tomorrow. Please."

"They're kids." Was the thing. The firebenders that did join them usually were kids, the age of being conscripted into the army getting lower every year now they needed to stretch their resources to places like the North Pole.

"They are." He struck up another grin, "It's still funny though."

Zuko groaned, turning his back to Aang.

He was on Aang's chest come morning however, so Zuko wasn't too angry with Aang. Although, that could have also been because of the nightmares. The Spirit World was still messing with him and, Aang was sure at one point, between sleep and waking that he felt the tell tale tremors of a nightmare coming from Zuko too. All this fire and fighting wasn't helping desensitise Zuko at all.

They made plans for a few more days, Sokka begging Aang to make sure Zuko, firstly, knew the plan and, secondly, stuck with the plan as Mr Hothead still didn't know the meaning of careful when it came to flinging himself at danger. Aang did his best with both, but kind of got sidetracked as Zuko took a nap one day and left his mask just there, waiting to be snatched.

He may have stolen it for a few hours.

Momo definitely appreciated it. He liked hanging around Zuko, but liked the mask even more since masked Zuko often zipped around the trees or rooftops with him depending on where they were staying. Having a mask that could fly was Momo's dream come true. Maybe not Appa's, but definitely Momo's.

He got told off for stealing it when he returned. Despite replacing it when he knew Zuko wasn't looking somehow Aang still got the blame for it. Zuko was right, but, didn't mean he could prove it.

"It's not like they care," Aang told him as they boarded the fireship that would take them to the prison. "I mean, you're travelling with the Avatar, if anyone's going to get ogled at it's me."

"That's not the point," Zuko sighed.

They walked the abandoned halls until they came to 'their' room, or the closest thing they had to a room after months on the run. There was even a bed for Momo, and after a bit of crafty maintenance a hatch to where Appa would be sleeping. Very homey.

"Then what is the point?

"The point," Zuko sighed, "Is that… well, I'm meant to be dead." He wasn't going to say that, Aang could just tell. Which meant he was going to say something else. Probably something along the lines of 'disgraced' like he usually did when Aang brought up the mask. Zuko had learned his lesson however, after months of being badgered about his mask, since, as he usually said 'disgraced' Aang always reminded him that the rest of them weren't exactly golden in the Fire Lord's eyes either.

"You are," Aang agreed after a moment. "But, I mean, would they recognise you?"

From the silence that fell Aang wasn't sure if even Zuko knew the answer to that. "I can't take that chance," He said at last.

"No, guess you can't."

The journey to the prison was a strange one. Usually they were only at sea for a few hours, maybe a day, definitely not a whole week. Aang wasn't used to it, and his stomach certainly didn't appreciate the constant rocking. He had to hide more often than not to empty his stomach out, mostly because he didn't want the kids to think he was ill. People got stupidly superstitious when it came to battles and sieges, and illness wasn't something anyone wanted to befall them before they were about to fling themselves into a life threatening situation.

Naturally Zuko found it all hilarious. Despite being a land lover himself Zuko had experience being on a boat, letting slip to Aang one night that he'd spent his first year alone hiding out on ships stealing scraps. No wonder he'd been so adept at stealing when they met.

"A few hours tomorrow and then you can fly Appa to the meeting place," Zuko soothed him when Aang ran to throw up for the third time that night. He hadn't even opened his eyes, just lay there, head up for Aang to worm his arm back under when he was done.

"A few hours," Aang told himself. "A few hours."

He was anything but rested when the call came out that the prison was in sight. His stomach was still roiling too. But he had a job to do, and thankfully he didn't have to wait on this boat a second longer to do so.

Twirling his glider he sought out the highest peak through the fog. "Ready," he said when he found it.

One of the Fire Nation kids joined him after a moment, looking anything but comfortable as he sought a way to hold onto Aang.

"Here," he grabbed the kid and had him hold onto Aang's waist. It was a loose hold, but, that would change as soon as they took flight. "Now have you got everything? The Blue Spirit make sure you packed a light lunch?"

"It's not funny."

"Sure it's not." Popping his glider out he vaulted them up and high into the clouds.

The whole thing went as Aang thought it would. The warriors on the ground did their distracting, Aang did his infiltrating and the kid did his best to melt whatever needed melting.

Yet, somehow, and Aang wasn't too sure about it yet, something went wrong. He didn't know if it was a spy in their midst or if whoever owned this place was used to a bunch of kids trying to take over it, but somehow Aang found himself knocked out. It wasn't even during a fight, which, in that case Aang could understand. No, he'd been watching out the window as their ground troops blew coal towards the captured earthbenders and the next thing he knew it certainly wasn't morning anymore.

He couldn't tell rightly what time it was. Just that it was dark and his head hurt.

The kid he'd been with wasn't with him and Aang hoped that he'd made it out. It wasn't just because the kid was unpracticed in the way of war either. More like Zuko had told Aang repeatedly what the Fire Nation did to deserters and traitors and that boy was both. He'd just wanted to go back home, and now Aang didn't know if he was even still alive.

He hoped the kid was.

Aang was trapped inside that cell for hours. His arms and legs were strapped in a way that stopped him from moving, and since moving meant bending there was no way Aang could force these cuffs off him. For the first time, after his stomach had calmed enough to feel hunger and his limbs to grow stiff, he wished he'd took the time to ask Zuko for a few hand to hand lessons. Or at least what to do if he ever found himself in a situation like this. He knew Zuko wasn't helpless without his bending. Sokka certainly wasn't.

He also knew Zuko had been in chains like this before since Sokka had helpfully told Aang all about that little incarceration in the North Pole. Apparently while Aang had been sleeping off his worry, Zuko had been breaking out of his chains so many times the guards had come in to personally knock him out. Hence the multitude of bruises Aang still didn't forgive them for giving Zuko.

"Come on, come on," he hissed, jerking his wrist against the metal. "Pure determination," he repeated to himself, willing it into his subconscious. If it worked for Zuko it could work for him. He just had to get in the right mindset. "Come on, think."

Apparently stupidity and resourcefulness couldn't be taught in the span of a few hours because Aang was still there when the Fire Nation came for him.

They kept him bound. In fact, they added more chains until Aang could barely breathe. Someone wasn't taking any chances, and Aang didn't blame them. After being dragged through the harsh metal halls of this prison, and Aang meant dragged, he was thinking some not so nice thoughts about exactly what he was going to do to these people should they give him so much as an inch of freedom.

By the time they reached the interrogation room, or, as Aang vaguely recalled from his earlier memories, the room he'd been knocked out in, the left side of his body was scraped up so bad he could see little bits of blood seeping through his clothes.

He was sat up, and more chains were added so he wouldn't fall, the gag in his mouth still in place. Overall extremely uncomfortable. He made sure to try and mentally send that thought to everyone in this room, and wasn't quite sure he'd managed to get his point across. They didn't look like they cared. To Aang they looked exactly how Katara had described a Fire Nation soldier. Hard eyes, cruel mouths and hands so tight around their spears they were a wrong blink away from skewering Aang where he sat.

They were older too, Aang noted. Across the islands he'd help free these last few months there hadn't been a lot of adults. By that Aang meant people over eighteen who'd probably willingly signed up for this war. More often than not they were kids. Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen year olds that were given a weapon and told to defend the Fire Nation legacy or die trying. They hadn't time to get used to their posts, or enjoy their new purpose in life. They were there mainly because they'd been ordered to, and no one said no to an order in the Fire Nation.

These men however, and they were men, Aang couldn't see a woman in sight, they were nothing like those kids. These were the kinds of men that willingly signed up for this sort of job. That took pleasure in watching others struggle and fall. They probably liked nothing more than a prison riot. It gave them something to do. An excuse to batter the prisoners in their care to the extent their dark hearts wanted. They would kill Aang if he didn't play this out right.

He didn't know how long he sat there. Long enough for the chains around him to grow even more painful as they started digging into cuts the ones underneath had made. Eventually someone came in to see him. A tall man, with greying hair and a hard smile who, any other day Aang would think was here to torture him a while. He'd think that now except, "You're lucky Avatar. Had this been any other week I'd have you in the incinerator by now. Maybe I still will."

There was a knock to the door Aang was guessing the prison warden had stepped through. In an instant the cruel looks evaporated, the soldiers standing to attention and the warden himself dropping to one knee as another man strode in.

There was something familiar about him. Something about the set of his brow. It niggled at the back of Aang's mind

"My prince," The warden outright grovelled. "As you can see your plan worked."

Well, that answered that question, and with it a whole new realm of dread came over Aang. This was one of Zuko's family members. Which one Aang wasn't sure about, and, thinking about that he didn't know if it mattered which one it was. Just because Zuko hadn't mentioned some more than others didn't mean they were any better than them.

Prince. Ozai was a prince wasn't he? Could this be him? He certainly looked enough like Zuko to be, but, Aang didn't know, just because he looked like a man didn't mean Aang could tell his age. He looked young, however. But Aang had met men that looked twenty before when they were forty something. Appearances weren't always what they appeared.

This man certainly looked intimidating. If not from the careful way he walked then the respect the soldiers held for him. Any man that had respect from these kinds of men was one to be feared and Aang felt fear right in his throat as the warden stood and handed a familiar looking necklace to his prince.

He knew there wasn't, but at that moment Aang could feel a brush of wind against his neck, as if proving further that it was indeed his necklace. This was bad.

"Leave us," the prince said, his voice not even raised yet everyone scampered like it had been. He dangled Aang's necklace between his fingers, doing one, slow, circuit around Aang's chair. He walked like Zuko, or, Aang supposed, it was the other way around. It was that careful measured strut he had when they'd been walking for a long time, often just collecting firewood. Yes, maybe Aang had spent a long time looking at it, but before now it hadn't been all that threatening. Zuko wasn't that threatening. This guy was making Aang's head hurt by pure close proximity.

"So, you're the Avatar."

He couldn't really answer, what with the gag and all. But the prince guy didn't need him to answer. With one rough hand he yanked Aang's hair back, Aang's necklace hitting him in the nose as his arrow was revealed even further. Maybe someone could get away with painting it on their forehead, but only someone with a real tattoo could have it in their hairline.

The hand left, the prince fetching himself a chair until he was at eye level with Aang. "I have a few questions. I'd hate for you to be roughed up more than you have been, but if I feel as if you're being uncooperative," meaning airbending the guy into the wall, "then I'm afraid this won't be pleasant for you." He didn't want to think about what that unpleasantness might be. "Blink once if you understand me."

Aang blinked.

His gag was removed, and as tempting as it might be to blow the guy away Aang held it in. His mouth was dry, and it took more than a few smacks to get feeling back into it.

Prince whatever his name was waited a few more minutes before relaxing minutely back into his seat. "Good."

Aang clicked his jaw a few times, making sure he could actually make noise before asking, "Which one are you then?"

There was a quirk of his brow that Aang knew Zuko had too, again, slightly more menacing on this guy. "I suppose being frozen for a hundred years will leave anyone out of the loop. My name is Lu Ten, and yourself? The North Pole call you Aang."

"That's my name."

Lu Ten didn't look like he believed Aang, but, giving a fake name wouldn't exactly be helping matters here since, the guy had said, cooperate or torture.

His necklace was held up, "Now, I may not have been to the Water Tribes myself but I do know a fair bit about them. This is a betrothal necklace is it not?"

"It… kind of?" It was, but, it wasn't an intentional betrothal necklace. More something Aang had made to blend in which ended up saving Zuko's butt.

Lu Ten fiddled with the necklace a little more, "Kind of or not you have a lot of people believing it is. Dare I ask who the lucky man is?"

Ah. "You know back in my day we could marry who we liked."

"Well, we're not in your day." They were as far from Aang's day as it could get. A hundred years. "But, as far as I'm concerned it doesn't matter what your spouse is." Just who Aang filled in. "So, name?"

Aang attempted to shrug, "Don't know it." Stay calm he told himself. If he was calm he wouldn't look like he was lying. He could do this. He'd bullshitted his way out of things before and he could do so again now.

"You- you don't know it?"

Aang nodded. "See, it's more of a spiritual marriage. I'm the Avatar after all." What was he even saying? Was he okay? That hit on the head had been kind of hard.

Lu Ten seemed to make something out of that as he asked, hesitantly, "You're married to a Spirit?"

Aang's lips twisted, "I mean, he's called the Blue Spirit. Whether he's actually a spirit remains to be seen. I mean, I've tried kissing him, but, I'm not even sure he's wearing a mask. Sometimes it feels like it, but," Aang shook his head.

Okay. This was good. Well done mouth. If he convinced Lu Ten he was married to a Spirit he wouldn't be so concerned with, Aang didn't even know what he wanted with Zuko. To capture him? Use him against Aang? He probably didn't have Zuko captured too. Probably.

Besides, if this was Lu Ten… Aang tried to remember Zuko's family tree, that meant that this was Iroh's son. Iroh who believed in spirits and superstitions. If Zuko was freaked out enough about spirits because of his uncle then then man's son must be the same. Right?

He certainly seemed a little apprehensive now as he handled Aang's necklace more delicately. After all, if it was a betrothal necklace that meant that it had been given from the spirit to Aang. Meaning the spirit was the one who made the formal proposal. Meaning the spirits had a bigger claim on this Avatar than the previous, and everyone knew what happened when they crossed a spirit.

Lu Ten's eyes narrowed slightly, "The men at the North Pole said your husband was a man, not a spirit."

Aang tried to shrug again, and remembered why that was a bad idea as the chains cut into his shoulder, "Spirits can take different forms. There's this one spirit that can change its face. Well, he eats faces and wears them."

That brought the fear back. More so when Lu Ten said, "They… they said he was wearing my cousin's face."

Of course they'd ratted Zuko out. He hoped his face hadn't done anything. He wouldn't give up Zuko's survival unless he had no choice. "The Northern Tribe said that too. But his mask won't come off these days so I don't really know." It was the truth. All of it was some version of the truth and Lu Ten could tell so.

He stood, doing a slow pace around the room.

"What are you going to do with me?" Aang would find a way out. He had to. But until then he'd like to have a heads up. He'd like to brace himself. Even if it was just an uncomfortable ride back to his dark cell.

Lu Ten was rather unhelpful however, saying, "I don't know." His fingers were clenched around Aang's necklace again, wiggling it about, "What's it meant to be?"

"It's a sky bison."

Lu Ten looked like he had no idea what that was. Meaning Appa hadn't shown himself.

"Are any of my friends here?"

Silence again, Lu Ten approaching the door and clicking his heels. In an instant the door was open, Lu Ten telling those beyond to "Take the Avatar back to his cell. Make sure he's comfortable."

They put the gag back on him, and while Lu Ten had said 'comfortable' the word itself had quite a lot of connotations. Especially to these types of men.

Sure enough he got a little roughed up, a few punches to his stomach, a little light strangulation as they tied him back up. Things that left him biting back tears when they finally left, but grateful that was all they had thought to do to him. He felt stupid. So stupid just hanging there. Everything hurt, and he knew it could be worse but it still hurt, it still definitely hurt. He wasn't used to fighting without bending. He'd never been used as a punching bag before. He was seventeen. Before all this he'd been happily living a calm, safe life harassing monks.

Why did it have to be him? Why couldn't it have been someone else? Why…

He couldn't think like that. If it hadn't been him he probably would have died with everyone else. He was lucky to be here. Destiny or something, so, he had to stop feeling sorry for himself. He could do that later. Preferably burrowed in Zuko's lap with Appa flying them somewhere safe.

He tried breaking out of his chains by pure willpower again. Then bending. Maybe if he could twirl his wrist the right way he could get his fire working. Or breathing. Yes! Breathing.

Except, as Aang discovered, he wasn't quite fireproof, and burning a piece of metal off his face left him screaming behind his gag as his jaw burned.

He wished he could trigger the Avatar state. But he'd learned it only happened when he was in danger and, while he was in danger now, he wasn't in life threatening danger. Not enough to trigger that stupid self defence mechanism that was completely useless when he couldn't call upon it whenever he wanted. Lu Ten had known better than to try and trigger it. He'd told them to knock Aang out when he'd been distracted. Not in battle. In the midst of victory and far from life threatening danger he could get.

He tried wriggling out his chains until he literally didn't have the strength to anymore. His eyes were heavy, his head still hurting from its earlier and just pure exhaustion was driving him further and further to resting, just for a little bit.

But if he slept who knew what might happen. Those soldiers might come in. Worse, the Spirit World. Who knew what they had in store for him now he was locked up and helpless.

He had to get out.

He…

A scream snapped his head back up, Aang listening as it came again. Young, high. Aang had wondered what had happened to the kid he'd flown in.

He felt sick.

Aang had some privilege, being the Avatar and all. But that kid was just a kid. A deserter and traitor to his homeland. Who knew what they were doing to him. All because Aang had come and told them this was the only way they would ever find peace in the world again.

The scream came again, this time accompanied by others and, strangely, the scream tapering off, getting higher and louder, rage this time fueling it.

Footsteps sounded outside his door. A whole fleet of them.

What exactly was going on?

Whatever it was tapered off after half an hour. Then silence reigned again. Horrible, awful silence.

His eyes grew heavy again, Aang wondering if he could just tempt it. Maybe he could trigger the Avatar state if he got worked up enough in his sleep.

He didn't know if he passed out or just blinked but time had passed when he next opened his eyes. He could tell in the way the soldier that came to bring him food had bruises that looked to be far older than what it should have been had he merely blinked.

"No funny business," the guard said suspiciously loud before undoing the gag around Aang's mouth. There was a short retching noise, Aang completely forgetting about his burned mouth, oh, no, wait a minute it's been stinging since he did it. "What did they do to you?"

"What?" Aang croaked out, surprised he could make noise after no water for hours.

"Oh, right," The visor on the helmet popped up, and instead of a nameless Fire Nation guard Aang stared right at Sokka.

Aang fought through the shock as fast as he could, "chains," he hissed, "Get the chains off."

He kept a look out as Sokka figured out how to get Aang down. As soon as he did, Aang wasted no time, barging past Sokka and taking out the two guards immediately outside his room.

Alone, and with a few minutes before someone might walk past Aang asked, "What's the plan?"

Sokka pointed right, "Toph's already on Appa. We got her out before coming to find you. Well, I say we got her out, more like she got herself out and yelled at us when we 'finally showed our faces'."

Aang didn't understand. He didn't have time to understand as Sokka flung his boomerang at the next group of guards that marched their way.

They fought their way out and up to the roof Aang had dropped down on, days? Yesterday? Sometime ago. They did it however, and at the first taste of sea air Aang vowed never to complain about sea sickness again. He hadn't been in there long, but it was long enough to make him reevaluate some of his life gripes.

"Appa!"

"And Toph," Toph called from Appa's saddle, hand already down to grab Sokka. "And Blue, Katara and Suki. You're welcome."

"Thanks," Aang said from Appa's fur, listening belatedly as Katara yip yipped Appa into the air.

Freedom. Blessed wonderful freedom was scattered with fireballs flinging themselves at them. Katara did her best, but ultimately Aang had to take over and steer Appa higher into the clouds and out of blasting range.

It felt like he was holding his breath. His limbs were still tight and aching, clenching even further until he landed safely on their nearest unoccupied island. His limbs felt like jelly when he stepped off Appa, but he didn't mind falling face first into dirt because, well, it was dirt. Earth dirt. Proper dirt. No metal in sight.

He flopped onto his back, revelling in the grass under his skin.

"So," he heard Toph say, "Does anyone else feel like that was too easy?"

"Toph," Katara warned and nothing was said on the subject.

Nothing more that Aang heard anyway. He was pretty sure he fell asleep where he lay, or, maybe he had crawled a few feet. Regardless he woke curled up next to Appa, Momo doing his little chittery snores in his ear. His mouth felt a little better, Aang vaguely remembering something about Katara learning a little bit of healing in her short stay at the North Pole. It wasn't fully healed, but his mouth wasn't on fire anymore.


	15. Chapter 15

Everyone was around a fire when he woke, and for a moment it felt like old times, and if thinking about a few months ago as being old times was old times last year must have been another lifetime. Zuko was missing from their little crowd, Aang glancing up to see him masked and sleeping on Appa's head.

It was surprising since it was daylight, but Aang let the guy sleep anyway. Stretching, he slunk his way over to the rest of his group asking, firstly, why they were out here instead of inside where it was warm and had, you know, actual beds. When they told him they didn't want to leave him alone and Aang didn't know what to do about that, he moved onto other things, like exactly what happened when he got knocked out.

"It was strange," Sokka said, "Tom launched himself out the window. If it weren't for Zu- Blue, catching him he would be dead."

They told him the rest. How they'd captured Toph. Only Toph however, the rest of them retreating to the boat when they managed to break out the earthbenders.

"So we have them?"

Katara pointed to a row of tents that had been set up. Some of them had come here, she said, the rest of them to the meeting point, which would be a few more hours by sea.

"It all went according to plan," Suki said. They got in, they got out, in essence it had went to plan. But they'd captured Toph. Something Aang would have found strange had he not heard the damage she was wreaking to the prison. They must have thought it better to capture her than let her tear the place to the ground.

"Like I said," Toph said, "Too easy. I think they were expecting us."

"That or they had specific instructions on what to do if we turned up," Aang sighed, finally sitting down. "They knew how to knock me out."

Really knock him out he explained.

It just, none of this felt right. Even escaping, looking back on it, surely they would have had more security or even tried harder if they wanted to keep Aang.

Or, maybe they were so sure of themselves because they had captured him once they just didn't think to use maximum force.

Whatever the case, Aang didn't particularly want to think about it. "We won," that was the important thing, "And there's other places we need to set our eyes to now we have the earthbenders. Word is going to spread, and hopefully it'll spread to the prisons." So when they did break more people out they wouldn't dawdle like Katara said these people did.

"Speaking of word being spread, I have something to tell you guys," Toph said, standing and fetching a hunk of metal Aang recognised as a cuff.

Did she bring that as a souvenir? Sometimes he wondered about this girl.

"You ladies are gonna want to take a step back."

They did, Aang especially. He knew what kind of crazy Toph had in that head of hers and took her warnings seriously. It wasn't often she gave them after all.

In front of their very eyes Aang witnessed something he didn't even think possible. With a few different flicks of Toph's wrists the metal in front of her seemed to melt, flowing from her hand until it was suspended in air, bended even.

She made it into a few different shapes. A tigerseal, a platybus bear before forming it into a ball and tossing it to Sokka. "You're looking at the first ever metalbender."

"That's incredible!" Katara gasped, grabbing the ball off Sokka, "How did you even- just how?"

Apparently while Aang had been held under tight security they hadn't been so concerned with Toph. They'd put her in one of the metal cells the other earthbenders stayed in and there, bored and tired of screaming threats at the guards, she'd noticed that metal had a sort of resonance with her. She couldn't really describe it, but, then again, could any of them describe how it felt to bend an element?

She'd figured it out anyway, and Aang was betting that the screams he heard weren't in fact screams of pain as Toph broke her way out and through half the prison to the roof.

"I'm surprised you didn't try the sea," Sokka said.

Toph shrugged, "Well someone was going to come back for me, and since I wasn't sure if they had twinkletoes I figured it'd be on Appa. Besides, I can't swim, what am I gonna do in the water? Drown?"

They went over maps after Toph finished showing off. Aang had a little break in between for some more healing from Katara since he hadn't ate since before they swarmed the prison and eating now made all sorts of hurt erupt in his mouth.

Suki, now she didn't have to think about rescue plans, started honing in on their next big venture. They would need to meet up with the rest of the earthbenders, make sure they were cared for, had the resources they would need after life in captivity for so long. "I'm going to have to start mobilising ships," she said, "We need to start some kind of underground trade with the larger cities." Since, as they'd learned, resources on islands only lasted so long. Already Aang was hearing complaints from the islands they'd liberated about food shortages and economic difficulty. If he had time, he would have been there helping them, maybe using Appa to smuggle supplies. But he was needed on the front lines and besides, Suki was one of the best organisers Aang had ever met. Her, along with Sokka and Zuko were a near unstoppable force, and she looked like she was already looking for a solution to their problem.

Sokka's fingers snapped, drawing all their attention, there was a near manic light in his eyes as he said, "The South Pole."

Obviously Suki was on another level than the rest of them as she didn't even question Sokka's random mention of his home. "That's genius."

A coy grin slid onto his face, "I know."

"We'll need better ships," Suki started planning again.

"Not to mention a temporary smuggling trade while we start the commute," Sokka continued. "I say we try Omashu. Aang used to have a friend there, he has to know a way in. If we can strike a deal with some of the merchants, keep it quiet, maybe start spreading the word there that we're helping they'll be more inclined to help." Maybe lower the price too they discussed when their plans started to become a little more concrete.

Trading with the South Pole was a genius idea the more Aang heard about it. While they didn't have a lot of resources the South Pole itself was resourceful. They knew how to hunt, how to fish, they had ways of preserving meat that would last months and if they started trading, actual trading instead of living in exile Aang was sure their economy would start to flourish. A win- win situation.

They had the ships to do it too, after a few hours arguing. They didn't always destroy the ships they found, and since they had some handy firebending youth to infiltrate and steal the ships they wanted away they had quite a fleet waiting for them on Kyoshi. They could use the battered ones for travelling to other islands and use the good ones for transporting food. It would give some of the youngsters an excuse not to get too close to the fighting, which was something Aang had been trying to figure out for weeks now. They always insisted they wanted to help, but if Aang could help it they wouldn't be risking their lives to do so. Leave that to the actual trained warriors. Warriors that were getting more and more everyday thanks to Suki's Kyoshi Warriors school.

When Zuko finally woke near sunset Sokka and Suki had already walked off to send hawks to whoever needed it.

"You missed the war meeting," Aang told him.

Zuko hummed behind his mask, fingers tapping against Aang's sort of healed mouth.

"Yeah, er, you're not gonna believe this but I kind of did it myself."

"Gag?" Zuko guessed.

Aang nodded, "I'm a dumbass, you can say it. I know I've been thinking it since I thought melting a metal gag off my mouth was a good idea."

There was a soft snort, Zuko dropping down next to him. "Dumbass."

He waited for Zuko to get comfortable before flopping over into his lap. He'd said he was going to do it if he got out of that place so he did. "What had you so sleepy?"

"Prison break."

Aang hadn't seen what Zuko had been doing but, he had to have done something. Maybe he was the reason they didn't have so many soldiers chasing after them. "Well, thanks."

He got a little grumble in reply.

He dragged Zuko to Appa's fluffy legs after a while, filling Zuko in on Sokka's genius plan. Away from prying eyes, and with Appa finished nudging them for a few pets Zuko felt okay with speaking freely. Aang kind of wished he wasn't since as soon as he was sure they were alone Zuko started in on everything Aang should have watched out for. He shouldn't have been at the window. He shouldn't have 'assumed everyone was down'. He should have checked the room, secured it, made sure the kid was okay and that he had an exit before he thought anything along the lines of looking out the window.

Nevermind that Zuko wouldn't have done… actually he probably would have.

"I know, I know," Aang sighed when Zuko took a breath. "I should have thought smarter. But, in my defence they had orders to take me down carefully. Your cousin knows what he's doing."

"My…"

If Zuko had questions he didn't ask them. He didn't say anything the rest of the night leaving Aang to make awkward half conversations until he dropped off.

While he might have escaped the Spirit realm in Lu Ten's cell he didn't now. It was like the spirits were taunting him, dragging him down when he didn't need them to. Playing with him. He was back in that fog, walking around, listening to people talk, scream, gloat about their last moments.

Aang's next few dreams followed that sort of pattern. A fog. A stroll through a forest where every rustle he heard sounded like clicks and shadows he saw crawling, slinking. The last one wasn't so much a dream as it was a memory. He was standing on a rock, surrounded by lava that grew hotter and hotter, swarming around him. His only hope was the man gripping his hand, his friend, who Aang saw harden his heart to him. Leaving him to suffocate long before the lava burned his flesh off.

That one had been hard to wake up from. Zuko was physically pinning him, as he did the other times Aang woke up from dying. His mask was off, something that helped anchor Aang, and when Aang latched onto him he didn't put up a fight, just let Aang clutch him as close as he wanted.

"You're alive," Zuko said, like the awkward guy he was.

"I'm alive." It helped anyway.

They had war meetings all that day. Worse, they had a travel day which Aang hated. He didn't mind flying on Appa, but since they were keeping Appa's flying at a minimum that meant a day on a boat. He hated the boats. But, he'd promised to not complain so he bundled himself into his and Zuko's room when requested and swallowed down every bit of bile that tried to climb up his throat.

War meetings consisted of looking over maps. Of Zuko and Sokka trying to out shout each other until they both came to a calm compromise. Of Suki sitting between them writing messages and noting down every idea that came into her brilliant mind. Of Toph, now that she had her new method of bending suggesting she form some sort of mega ship out of all the others and use it to destroy the Fire Nation fleet. Not a bad idea. Maybe a little impractical, but it was nice she was contributing. Aang had nothing. Usually he spent these meetings on land talking with Katara, asking if she thought Zuko would blast him if he painted a smiley face on his mask.

Today however, Katara was more involved with the talks than ever. It was her tribe, she knew it just as well as Sokka and she, unlike her brother, had a few problems with involving the South Pole in this conflict.

"They'll be a target!" She said, "Think of Gran Gran. Think of the kids. Do you think they'll survive if a Fire Navy vessel comes? We barely survived last time."

"Which is why we're sending the firebenders and anyone else that wants to help." Sokka said, anyone young enough Aang was worried would get themselves killed quicker staying here. "They can protect the village as well as help rebuild. The firebenders have practice building defences, they can train the kids and hide those who can't fight."

"And you think they'll be welcome? That seeing firebenders will make them feel safe? They're the enemy!"

"They're on our side."

The arguing went on, Katara asking more and more for no firebenders to be sent. But earthbenders couldn't bend snow. If anything, it would be beneficial to send waterbenders, the Poles were the ideal place for them, but the only waterbenders left in the world were at the North Pole, and if Ozai hadn't massacred them yet he would at some point. Out of all the elements they had left fire was the only one that could help in the Poles. They didn't need a source to conjure it, and knew how to combat it. As much as it pained Aang to admit it, after hearing more and more how much Katara had lost, that her necklace wasn't actually from a boy she'd left behind in the South but her mother, the firebenders were Katara's best chance at defending her village.

"We'll send non benders too," Aang said, "More nonbenders than fire, that way, if something happens they'll be able to contain it."

Katara's head snapped to him, "You honestly think they'll have a chance against firebenders?"

"Er," Sokka spread his hands out.

Aang pointed at Sokka, "You're really doubting your brother's abilities?"

"That's different," Katara said.

"Is it?" Aang asked, "If Sokka, untrained, can take down a firebender, then someone who has been will have no problem."

He saw Sokka physically swallow the argument he wanted to pitch Aang's way at the untrained comment, but the point still stood that Sokka had taken down a few firebenders in his time. Even before Aang saw him drag Zuko off for more formal training. If Sokka could do so, the men and women that were proficient with a weapon would be capable too. The matter now was deciding who should go and who should stay.

That, at least, Aang had an opinion on. Since Katara had nothing but negative things to say about the firebenders, they didn't ask her about them. Instead, they ignored every pointed comment she had until it came to the others. Aang made sure the young firebenders were on that list. He even saw Zuko sneak a few other names on when Katara stormed off after offering up Haru's name.

"I'll go," Aang said at last.

Sokka immediately shook his head, "We need you for Omashu."

"But someone needs to broker peace so we can actually start trading. If the Southern Water tribe won't cooperate then there's no way this is going to work. Besides," he said, "I'm the Avatar, it's my job." literally. It was in the job description to be the broker of peace and bringer of prosperity.

"That's all well and good but you're not going," And it sounded like it was final.

"You can't stop me."

"I can because I'm going."

Whatever joviality was left in the room went as soon as Sokka said that. "But," Toph started.

"But we need you," Suki finished. "You're the only other tactician we have."

Zuko cleared his throat.

"You know you're not the best at it hothead," Suki shot back. "Or need I remind you of Chin?"

Apparently not since Zuko held his tongue.

"You can't leave Sokka," Suki said, something more in her tone than simple ordering.

Her and Sokka weren't exactly obvious with their like of each other, but neither were they subtle, and Aang debated only for a moment before saying, "You should go with him."

"You're joking."

"I'm not." It made sense the more Aang thought about his split second decision. "You won't be more than a month, and in the meantime we can hold the fort. We're not helpless. Besides, the Southern Water Tribe needs to see that we're serious about trade and peace. Who better to do so than a Kyoshi warrior? It'll make the people feel better if they have an official battle hardened general with them." Maybe general was laying it on a little thick but Suki was the closest they had to one right now. "And if Sokka went on his own we all know his talk gets him into trouble. Better someone who's skilled in diplomacy take care of him."

There was more arguing, but Aang was right in the end. Suki was the best choice to go with him, mostly because it would be a few of her warriors that would be with the firebenders making forts at the South Pole. The women in Sokka's tribe needed to see that they could be warriors too, that they didn't have to sit there helpless because they'd been brought up that way. They were also warriors of the Avatar, and since they knew Aang was back, anything with his name and stamp of approval would go a long way with people that had let the closest thing they had a to chief leave them for said Avatar would only help.

Also, well, Suki just didn't want to leave Sokka, and as much as she might have wanted to argue against it, when it came down to it, they looked happier than Aang had ever seen them at the prospect of time away from the war.

"This sucks," Katara said, smile forced on her face as her and the rest of them waved their three best boats off.

"It's the best solution we have," Toph said.

"It still sucks."

So did Omashu.

A month was too long for starving people to wait and they had a plan. The problem with that plan was the fact that they weren't breaking into a small barely colonised island. This was Omashu. A Fire Nation stronghold. If they managed to infiltrate without being noticed it would be a miracle. Actually finding people to trade with was beyond a spiritual intervention.

They all knew so. Each and every one of them. Yet they still hopped on Appa and flew to the next port that held their ships.

With the troops they had left they sailed the ships to the tip of the mainland. There, it was a rock, paper, scissors battle to see who was actually going to be infiltrating Omashu.

Aang, obviously, was going, but Toph, Katara and Zuko had to decide amongst themselves who was going to stay behind and guard the ships. This was the main source of trade in the Fire Nation, their ships were going to come under fire at some point.

"This sucks," Katara said when she lost again to Toph. "I want to go."

"You lost princess," Toph sniggered, wiggling her fingers a little more, "Accept it. Hothead did."

Zuko was sulking up a storm where he'd stalked off after losing his last round. Just the mere mention of him had Katara demanding a rematch.

"No, you're just gonna lose," Toph said.

Aang left them to it, going over to make sure Zuko would keep himself safe without Aang there.

He already had his mask on, like he always did these days. There were other people too, others to draw attention and watch Zuko's back. The problem was, "Don't go charging in alone if trouble comes up will you? I know you like to think you're alone but we travel in groups for a reason."

The Blue Spirit turned his head, his knees coming closer to his chest.

"Just be safe okay."

Still nothing. But then, the mask was on.

"Hey er, remember, if we aren't out by sundown tomorrow, you have to leave. Don't go off on your own," Since that was definitely what Zuko would do, "Or organise a breakout. This is important work we're doing, and for all you know I could be just held up for a few hours. The point is that you keep yourself and everyone here safe."

Those bottomless eyes finally looked at him, as if asking why he was telling Zuko this.

"I'll be fine," Aang promised. "I will be. I'll be fine," he said it more to himself, willing it to be true. He wouldn't let himself be captured again. Not if he could help it. He was more informed this time around. More on edge. Lu Ten wouldn't get him the same way twice. "It's gonna be fine."

On a moment of surrealness Aang found himself engulfed by the Blue Spirit. It was an actual hug. With intention. Gentle intention. Something that happened because Zuko wanted to rather than had to because Aang was panicking after dying in some past life.

Aang hugged him back, clutching onto Zuko's waist and ignoring the way the mask was digging into his skin. He would excuse it as a moment of blind madness. Or maybe just pure fear that this really was a suicide mission that made him move but, before he could properly think it through, Aang pulled back, tilting Zuko's mask up enough to plant the quickest kiss he could on lips he'd thought he'd have far longer to appreciate should he ever get the courage to do this.

He yanked it down when he heard Katara complain again, Toph's "Besides, this is a good way for you two to bond," getting louder as he sprinted back over to them. "Don't think I don't hear when you two fight."

"They fight?" Aang asked later, after Katara had finally admitted defeat and started a patrol with the earthbenders guarding the boats and Aang had waved his last goodbye to the Blue Spirit following them as long as he could on foot.

They were at the bottom of Omashu, where the sewer system was specifically. With a few well placed moves Toph had the grate open and said, "Course they do. You don't hear them?"

They started up, Aang forging a path with his airbending to stop the sludge from sticking to him. "I mean, I know they used to fight, but I thought they'd worked something out."

"So did I," Toph said, "Especially when Ice Queen started boinking that Haru guy. But," she shrugged. "Guess they just don't like each other."

"Guess so," Aang sighed. A thought occurred to him, "Isn't Katara like fourteen?" He could have sworn her and Toph were the same age.

Toph made a face, "Sixteen I think. Marriageable age," she grumbled.

That reminded Aang, "That Chey guy…" was it Chey? It was something. "Was he nobility or just a Fire Nation boy?"

There was a horrible twist to Toph's face when Aang looked back, "Nobility," ground out. "Why?"

Aang shrugged, "Just wondering why they'd make marriage deals with Earth nobles." He understood the rest of the world. But what Aang knew of royals, which was quite little, they had different standards of what constituted a good marriage. Most notably, with the Fire Nation, keeping with their own kind.

"My family has money," Toph said, "Like, a lot of money. More money than that guys family has seen since his great grandfather decided to spend it on badgermole fighting."

"Ah." Aang supposed anything was possible when money was involved.

"I don't think he was planning to show me off," Toph went on. "My family liked to pretend I didn't exist to the rest of the world, and I'm pretty sure my beloved husband felt the same. No doubt I would've been stuck home looking after fifty kids while he's off with whatever mistress he decided to visit that day."

"He was really like that?"

Toph hummed considerately behind him, "Dunno. He said he would be faithful, and he didn't sound like he was lying. But, I mean, you saw me in that get up. You really think he would keep his vows after a few years?"

Oh, right, "Is this because you're…"

"Pitiful when I look like a helpless girl?" Not where Aang was heading but sure. "Duh. I mean, would you have wanted a pretty girl or this picture of beauty you see behind you."

No question, Aang would never meet another girl like Toph. "Definitely you." The confidence alone was something Aang wished he had, and Toph was saying all this with dirt caked up to her knees, her skirt torn and looking as far from supposed 'beauty' as she could get.

"Exactly. If I'd had to play that part the rest of my life there's no way any of us would've been happy. Better that things played out like they did."

Aang avoided another wave of sludge, saying, "Well, I'm happy you're here."

"Thanks twinkletoes, but I think I'd like to hear it from someone who isn't sneaking off to rage fuck Mr Gloomy every morning."

"We-" what was he supposed to say? That they weren't? Because they weren't. But, everyone sort of thought they were, and while firebending practice was what they were really doing, from Toph's point of view, as far away as she and the rest of them were when Aang went off to practice, she probably only got a read on his general okayness. Meaning, all that close proximity and Aang sneaking off after to take care of having Zuko literally pinning him for a few hours was bound to be sending Toph signals that weren't actually going on. "Please tell me you haven't been saying that to the others."

He could feel the shrug Toph sent his way, "Listen, whatever delays the inevitable blow up that guy's gonna have I don't think you should be ashamed of."

"He's not that bad."

"Not around you," Toph muttered.

"Or you." Out of all of them Zuko liked Toph the most. Mainly because she spent the time to actually bother him rather than avoid his gaze or challenge his authority like Sokka, Katara and Suki did.

"Whatever. The point is he's tightly wound and I, for one, do not want to find out what happens if you're not there to blow him every morning."

It took an hour to climb up the slippery pipe leading into the heart of Omashu. An hour of Toph asking all sorts of questions Aang did not feel comfortable answering to a fourteen year old girl. They weren't so much intrusive as assumptive, and Aang didn't have the strength to tell her to drop it, or the skill to lie well enough Toph would actually believe him.

They crawled up into a main street. Never a good thing. But luckily Aang had his tattoos covered enough and fire nation colours on that he would pass if they were spotted. Toph, well, this was a former Earth Kingdom city, he was sure there were still people in green around somewhere.

The street was deserted which was strange right? He asked Toph.

"They're all gathered around this large building." Ah. "How much you wanna bet they're passing some new horrible law?"

"A lot."

This wasn't good. If they were all gathered in the main square then how was Aang supposed to ask around for people to trade with. The money in his pack felt heavier every second he stood there wondering what to do. They had a limited time to do this.

"Okay," he said, finishing his mini pace. "Okay, we can work with this." The market wouldn't be open, and it would take at least an hour for it to open after whatever it was the governors were telling the people was over. That meant… that meant they had to find something other than the markets. Maybe the suppliers? But the suppliers were probably Fire Nation.

"Can we? Because it sounds like you're having a meltdown to rival hotheads."

"I'm trying to think of alternatives."

Toph's mouth twisted, and despite not being able to see there were times her eyes would get distant, like now. "Why don't we try the palace?"

"The palace?" Probably the one place they didn't want to go.

"Well, the palace is going to be getting the best cut, right? And what do they do with the waste? I know the servants in my home didn't get it. My parents would rather burn it in front of them then let them have it. Didn't stop them from taking a cut though."

The people at the palace wouldn't be listening to this speech either. They'd be too busy running the place, probably briefed beforehand on whatever it was the others were being told. That meant Aang would get to speak to them, make some deals, and what made it better was that the servants that worked there were most likely Earth Kingdom. "Toph you're a genius."

"Tell me something I don't know twinkletoes."

They started towards the palace, Aang not used to taking the slow path. Usually, when he'd been here before, him and Bumi would be racing across rooftops, Aang maybe cheating and using his glider. On the streets, blending in, the thrill of being undercover wore off after the first few houses they passed.

It was a long walk. One made longer when Toph purposefully stopped to admire the mail chutes. Aang was tempted to tell her they could ride them on the way down but they were keeping a low profile and a low profile meant no fun.

Then again… "Hey Toph, how quiet can you be?"

A manic gleam entered her eye, one chaotic spirit recognising another. "Very."

"Good." He wouldn't tell her. Not until they'd finished their work here. Or if they had to escape really quickly which was a definite possibility.

The palace was exactly how Aang remembered it. If his memory had fire emblems scattered across every inch of it. Strangely the Fire Nation hadn't changed it all that much. Not how Aang would have thought they would. The structure was still Earth Kingdom, the stones around it still stone. The garden they sneaked into a little different but that was to be expected since the last time Aang had been here was a hundred years ago.

"Okay," Toph's hand snapped out, stopping Aang where he stood. "I'm gonna go make some introductions, do a little sleuthing. You stay here and keep a lookout."

"But-"

"I'm going," She insisted.

"I know but, I thought I was supposed to be doing the negotiating." That was why he was here. Right? Then again, they had just said he was there because he knew the layout. He wasn't that bad at talk was he?

Toph didn't think he was since she gave him a sad shake of her head, "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're not exactly versed in this world. Me on the other hand," She made a gimme motion, Aang handing the quite heavy coin purse over.

"Be safe," Aang sighed, slumping onto a pillar.

He watched Toph sneak inside, the walls opening up easily under her earthbending. He was tempted to follow her, to make sure she would be okay, that she wouldn't spend all their, or everyone they'd gathered it from, money on something they wouldn't need. But he trusted her. He'd seen her defend herself, and it was true, she had grown up in a different world to him. One where she had actually probably been versed in trade deals and food purchasing. Not because Aang thought her family would ever include her in the family business, more, from what she'd told them about her family, they would have been grooming her from a young age to be the perfect wife. Meaning, food for the house, silk for the kids they expected her to have.

If only the Beifongs knew what Toph was really using all that knowledge for. Would they even be proud of her?

He didn't know. He didn't want to know because it probably wasn't the answer he wanted it to be.

He slid further down the pillar, trying not to count the minutes and think of twenty scenarios that might be going on right this second with Toph. She could metalbend, he told himself, she was tough, she'd crush anyone that so much as talked wrong to her. She would be fine.

It didn't help. Not really, and the more minutes that went by the more he worried. He couldn't help it, he would have worried if any of them had been in there without him. Sokka, Suki, Katara, Zuko, all of them were more than capable of being on their own, it's just Aang that wasn't.

A shadow fell over him. Or, tried to, the little guy wasn't even up to Aang's knee when he looked up. The kid didn't stay long either, just waved to Aang and stumbled on his way to who knew where.

He thought about going after the kid, there didn't seem to be any other adults looking after him. But just then Toph came out with the most sullen looking girl Aang had ever set sights on. Her harsh gaze fell on Aang, question plain so he pointed to where the kid had ran off too.

With a sigh, she followed, leaving Aang with Toph once more.

"Did you sort it?"

Toph nodded. "No questions will be asked so long as we keep the gold coming."

"This isn't permanent," Aang reminded Toph.

"No," She agreed. "But who knows when Sokka's coming back. We need a back up just in case something happens." She motioned Aang to start following her, the two of them walking back through the gardens and towards the mail chutes he was adamant to get them onto before they left.

"Who was that anyway?" He asked, the image of the, obviously, Fire Nation noble in his mind.

"Her name is Mai. Don't worry about it."

"But-"

"Don't," Toph snapped, so Aang left it. "Oh, and this is for you." She shoved a note at him, Aang tucking it into his robes. He'd read it later.

For now, they had to get out of here and, as Toph told him, around the North side of Omashu's port for the supplies Toph had gotten them.

"Okay," Aang warned her, the two of them balancing on a slab of earth on the top of the highest mail chute they could find. "No screaming, we don't want to be arrested."

"Yeah yeah," Toph waved off, bending them forward and down the chute before Aang could get a proper foothold.

He was the one that almost ended up screaming as he clutched to Toph's cackling body and tried not to fly off and into the abyss below.

They went three more times before slipping back into the sewers and out of Omashu altogether. Appa picked them up, shaking off the last of his nap to take them back to their waiting ships. Here came the hard part.


	16. Chapter 16

It was all well and good for them to pretend to be Fire Nation. But the ports had checks and laying below deck only did good for so long. It was nerve wracking, therefore, soothing another one of Appa's panic attacks at being inside instead of on top of the ship and listening to those on top bluff their way to the north port. He expected fire to be flung at them any minute. For soldiers to storm the hull and slit his throat before he could even think to defend himself. Appa was his only means of escape and below, like this, he couldn't fly anywhere.

Zuko dragged a comb through another one of Appa's knots. He, at least, Appa wasn't trying to fling off. It calmed Appa down a little. Until the comb left him for that brief moment where Zuko was cleaning it out and then he started up again.

"I know," Aang hushed, "I know buddy, I don't like it either but you have to be quiet. Please Appa, please be quiet." He hated this. Next time he wasn't coming. Or, he was leaving Appa because this wasn't fair.

"Get him some hay," Zuko suggested, mask poking over Appa's head for a moment. "It might keep him quiet if he has something to chew on."

"Yeah." That made sense. The only problem was he would have to leave Appa to go fetch the hay. "Yeah."

"He'll be fine," Zuko said.

"Yeah." But if Aang left and Appa made a noise, just because he didn't know what was going on, Aang would never forgive himself. A noise would have the soldiers attention. Would have them blasted and-

Zuko hopped down, handing the comb over and giving Appa one last stroke on his nose. "I'll be a minute."

Aang nodded, starting up the rhythmic combing that had Appa grumbling instead of groaning. "It's gonna be okay."

They were there for hours.

Toph told him later the people at the ports were asking for documentation, for papers and other things they didn't have. That they had to bluff long enough for that Mai girl to come through on her end and get them into the port.

After that was loading and talking and more loading but all Aang heard were the footsteps coming onto their boat. Stomping about, coming closer and closer to where he was begging Appa to please keep quiet.

Somehow they did it. Somehow Appa kept quiet and they drifted off back to their side of the world. Katara was the one to come get them, telling Aang he could bring Appa back on deck. By that point he was exhausted, the room was full of Appa hair and they were out of hay. His nerves were so frayed as well that he almost dived beneath the deck again when something clattered that bit too loud when they got up.

He hated boats.

"You should fly back," Zuko told him after an hour.

"What if something happens?" There were always Navy boats scouting around, sometimes flinging fire their way. It was only through the skin of their teeth that they escaped some of those encounters, and with the cargo they were carrying now it was even more important that Aang stay. "It's fine, it's only a few hours."

It was dark when they docked. As tempting as it would be to leave the cargo on the boats they needed it off, just in case something happened. Crates and barrels alike were carted off and up the long slope to the nearest hall. Katara checked off every item that came her way, Aang surprised at the amount the boats had managed to carry.

"How long is this going to last us?" Aang asked, watching as an import of cloth was tallied and checked on the list.

Katara shrugged, "A few weeks."

"Weeks?" But there was so much there.

"This isn't a lot Aang. Not for seven islands."

No, he supposed it wasn't.

"The sooner we set up trade with the South Pole the better," she sighed, another three crates carried in.

A long night to accompany a long day. When Aang did catch up with Appa it was almost sun up. Appa was happily basking in the dawning light, belly full and freshly combed. He'd never looked more comfortable.

He slept half the day away.

When he woke, one of the boats he'd spent all last night unloading was loaded again and already sailing across the skyline to one of the neighbouring islands. The other two were still getting ready to follow it, Toph shouting at men and women alike to pay attention when she told them which crate was going to Whaletail.

Katara was awake as well, looking more confused than ever as she tried to make out the writing underneath a variety of scribbles.

"What's up?" Aang asked.

"Toph," Katara said, which Aang supposed was a good enough answer.

He'd missed the fight, but apparently while Aang was napping Katara and Toph had been going at it for hours trying to decide which island needed which resources. Not that Aang had to worry about missing it for long. What he hadn't realised when he'd sent Suki off with Sokka was just how this was going to affect their whole dynamic. Katara and Toph had never been the best of friends, and now Suki was gone there was a position to be filled. One which neither girl were going to miss the opportunity to put their name forward for.

"I'm staying out of it," Zuko said later when Aang caught him hauling boxes.

"I don't understand, why can't they just work together." Something neither of them looked to even have considered before trying to solely take charge of this trade arrangement.

There was a beat of silence as Zuko realised this was an actual question. "My guess?" he eventually answered, "They both grew up being groomed to be the matriarch of their family, and with no friends. Meaning it's not so much they don't want to work together they just don't know how."

"Ah." that made sense. Sokka and Katara looked to be the oldest in their tribe, and Aang bet they'd stuck together instead of playing with the other, younger kids. Toph too was isolated.

Aang was starting to think he'd had a very good childhood the more he learned about his friends.

"I'm guessing you came to this conclusion from experience," Aang guessed.

Zuko nodded, Aang betting his face was twisted underneath that mask. The crate he was hauling was particularly heavy. Aang knew because he'd been the one to unload it last night. With airbending since he almost put his back out trying to carry it on strength alone. "My sister. Azula was brought up thinking she was better than everyone around her. By the time mother enrolled her in an all girls school it was too late. She has friends, but, they more bow down to her than try to work with her." Aang could add stronger than him to the list of things Zuko was good at since he managed to get the crate on the ship with only a few grunts. When he came back down, mask still on and not looking like he needed medical attention he said, "She used to. My sister," he clarified. "I don't know if she has her friends anymore. I…"

"I know." There was still no word on Princess Azula no matter where they travelled and Aang had asked. Every colony they liberated he asked the Fire soldiers what they knew of Azula. Aang knew Zuko didn't like to say it, but it was pretty obvious the less people knew about his sister the more worried he grew. "I'm sure she's fine."

As evil as Zuko said she was even he agreed, "I do too." She was his family after all.

The last boat sailed off just after sunset, leaving Aang with literally nothing to do. He trusted people to do what they needed to. He couldn't manage everything after all, and trade wasn't something he was even versed in. So, there he stood, wondering what came next.

They couldn't make war plans until Suki and Sokka came back. Or, they could but Suki would probably kill him so it was probably better that they didn't. He couldn't help with the islands and their Fire Nation problem because he didn't want to overstep and enforce his own idea of the law onto them. So, huh, nothing.

He side eyed Zuko slinking off to Appa. Maybe he could convince him to go elephant koi surfing. Disguise it as a bath day.

He sniffed his clothes. Yeah, they were decidedly musty.

Calming himself down in case he gave the game away he skipped towards where Zuko's masked self had went.

Naturally Zuko saw right through the bath excuse, and Aang almost kicked himself when Zuko, unmasked, quirked his one brow and said, "You realise we have access to indoor baths now right?"

Indoor baths. Baths they could ask someone to use and they would happily allow them to because they were 'honoured guests'. "Well," Think quickly Aang, think quickly, "It's honestly more for Appa than for me. Can't exactly put him in a bath can we?"

Appa gave a happy grumble, Aang realising that he would have to actually give him a bath now. Urgh, they'd just got him nice and fluffy too.

"I guess not," Zuko agreed. "But we don't have to go all the way to Kyoshi to do it. The sea's just there."

Damn it. "Yeah. Guess it is."

Wait, what was he getting all mopey about. He was still getting a day playing in the sea. Maybe he wouldn't get to ride elephant koi but that didn't mean he couldn't have fun. Besides, bathing Appa could sometimes be a two man job and, well, Aang wasn't above asking Zuko to strip down to help out.

"Okay, how about tomorrow? I'll grab Momo too. And that nice lady that lives near the well has these oils that's supposed to be for ostrich horses but I'm sure they'll work on Appa too." He didn't like that Sokka constantly called Appa smelly but, well, it was kind of true. Especially when Appa's last bath day was five months ago and he's flown through far too many fire strikes since.

"Fine."

With a grin he joined Zuko on Appa's paw, getting himself all nice and comfortable before noticing the near unblinking look Zuko was giving him. "What?"

"Rea-" he sighed, seeming to think better about what he was going to say, then shook his head. "Doesn't matter."

A few more seconds Zuko kept that look on him before turning on his back, shuffling close like he usually did when he didn't want to outright ask for affection.

It was actually while Aang was slipping his arm in its usual place under Zuko's head that he remembered before Omashu. Right. He'd kissed him. He'd actually done that.

Huh. How about that.

He didn't feel bad about it. Why should he? He'd just kissed Zuko, and it wasn't like he'd done it again. He'd put himself out there, he'd made his intentions known, and here Zuko was, still cozied up to him. So, yeah, nothing to feel bad about.

Still, he felt better about himself when he woke to find Zuko still on his arm, awake, one hand stroking through Appa's fur.

"Bath day," Aang whispered, watching in delight as Zuko jumped, head whipping around to face him.

"Don't do that."

The image of Zuko's creeped out outrage kept with Aang all through breakfast. All through that damn mask slipping back over Zuko's face as well.

He let it happen. After all, other things were coming off now Zuko had that mask on.

Aang only got a glimpse of Zuko's bare arms before something was slamming him in the face, Toph's decisive laughter running past him into the sea. Or, the shallows, she wasn't so fond of the sea.

"What are you doing here?" Aang asked, flinging Toph's, urgh, dirt caked skirt, away. He spotted Katara too, making her way steadily down the sand hills to where Appa was dipping his toes in. "How did you even know we were here?"

"Blue told us you were bathing Appa," Katara said, the when however still undetermined. "And since we're at the sea, I thought it was a great opportunity to have some actual practice time in with your waterbending."

"I didn't," Toph called. "I just wanted to ruin your alone time."

"It wasn't-" well it kind of was alone time, but they didn't know that, and now he was going to have to practice bending.

He may have had some less than nice things to say about them under his breath as he stripped his own clothes off.

Bath day was quickly becoming his least favourite day. He was blasted with water so much he was sure he'd been clean half an hour ago. Whenever he ventured onto the sand Toph was there to push him into some kind of hole she'd dug watching them from the shore. The only good part was actually bathing Appa. Something Aang definitely didn't think he'd ever be saying.

Katara didn't let him out of the ocean until well after noon. Even then she didn't really just 'let' him out. More like he froze Katara's feet, flung Momo at her and high tailed it towards dry land before she could retaliate.

Appa was freshly dried and combed when Aang found him. Zuko was gathering up the last of his fur, Aang surprised to see there was more there than there was the other day. How did Appa have so much fur?

"I'm starting to think you like combing Appa."

Zuko glowered, Aang could just tell it was a glower, behind his mask. Maybe not then.

"Well, bath day's a success," he said instead, "Appa smells… okay," He was never going to smell like a bed of roses, but he certainly didn't smell like burning and whatever he rolled in when Aang wasn't looking. "And I gotta say it's nice not feeling days old mud stuck behind my knees." He didn't even know how it got there. Spirits maybe.

He swung his arms around, searching for something else to say. Something that wasn't asking Zuko if he wanted to go somewhere more private and talk about the fact Aang had kissed him a few days ago and would very much like to do it again so could they maybe see if they were on the same page? As much as Aang wanted to breach that topic, he knew it wouldn't be wise to do so right now. He needed to let Zuko make the next move. Right? That was what happened.

"Er, so, I'm thinking of doing washing later. I can throw your clothes in if you want?" Nice. Although it could have been something that wasn't going to mean him hanging around water for another few hours.

"Sure," croaked back at him from behind Zuko's mask.

Later Aang found a pile of black waiting for him near the tub he'd kindly asked a few ladies back at the village for. Along with a horde of blankets, a fluffy blue coat and the rest of Zuko's wearable possessions Aang had a moment to wonder if there was anything Zuko was presently wearing right now. Was he just… out there? Naked? Maybe hanging around waiting to snatch whatever Aang washed first?

He was definitely sneaking off for some alone time before snuggling with Appa tonight.

Time he well spent, even if, later, with Zuko's heat pressing against his front he still found himself shifting slightly away as things stirred where he didn't need them to this close to sleep.

Honestly, Aang didn't mind being stiff. Usually it led to an interesting night. One filled with him pressing himself against his mattress, or, usually, Zuko's midriff when he woke. Not the worst place to wake up. Nor the worst night, not even in the top five of worst nights, and Aang had long ago accepted this as a part of growing up and didn't feel ashamed when he woke up the next morning.

Did he maybe roll away from Zuko the next morning? Of course he did. But that was more to do with personal space than shame.

Regardless, his point was that he didn't mind going to sleep with sex on his mind. He liked it.

What he didn't like was dropping off expecting a night filled with sweaty limbs and a familiar voice panting in his ear and instead finding himself in some kind of dark void.

That feeling of unease was sitting in the pit of his stomach that warned him this wasn't a normal dream. It was the same one he got feeling himself battling a volcano or walking through a forest. That something wasn't right. That he wasn't in the natural world anymore.

The void quickly cleared, fading into something else entirely. There was a taste of iron in the air, the grass under his feet brittle and snapping as no blade in the spirit world should be. The air was charged, and as Aang stood there unmoving he felt the scorch of head against his neck.

Turning, he was met with a horde of war balloons, all of them holding the Fire Nation insignia. Men and women were outside, standing on the edge, their hands ablaze, as red as the sky that wept red above them.

People were screaming.

It was a whisper, something that whipped around with the wind, but the more Aang stood there the louder it got. Louder and louder until it battered his head, Aang no longer hearing voices just one long, loud, echoing scream of pain.

The ground was burning. The rocks, the water, the air itself, it was all burning.

He couldn't breathe.

His throat was literally closing, the air too hot to take in. Not even hot, there was no air. He would have fell to his knees but his body wouldn't let him.

The balloons kept going, the earth kept burning, and right before Aang's vision grew dark he saw a figure that wasn't exactly human crawl its misshapen body towards him.

He wasn't too sure what was going on when he opened his eyes. There was something heavy on his chest, and something wet on his face. As optimistic as he was that it was water, he just knew that wasn't true.

"He's awake!"

Zuko?

Zuko appeared in his eyesight a moment later, mask off despite the sun high in the sky. He didn't look well, the dark circles under his eyes making Aang question if Zuko had even been asleep last night. Aang had been sure he was.

"Wh-" He coughed, throat constricting as he struggled up and tried to conjure some kind of wetness in his mouth.

He must have been psychic, or just looked like he needed water since water was in his mouth a second later. Almost battering his throat actually, Katara there when the water dropped and his eyes cleared.

"Don't speak," she said, "I think Zuko might have broke one of your ribs. It's gonna take me a few minutes to heal it." She pushed him back down, back to where he could see Zuko hovering over him.

He broke a rib? Why did he break a rib?

His mouth opened, a grubby hand closing it again as Toph, somewhere beyond his eyesight said, "You heard the lady twinkletoes, no talking."

He heard her wiping her hands, focusing more on Zuko, trying as best he could to ask with his eyes just what was going on.

Zuko just shook his head. Or, maybe he didn't. As far as Aang could tell Zuko was just shaking in general, his face paler than Aang had seen it for a while.

"You're freaking him out," Toph said from his side. "His heart's beating like a bird."

Katara came into sight, her dress coming up to his face to wipe off something that definitely wasn't water on his mouth. Urgh, he'd been sick. Wonderful. That certainly wasn't going to win him any points in the attractiveness department.

"Don't move," Katara looked up, "Hold him down. This is going to hurt."

He wanted to protest but the next second Toph and Zuko were pinning his shoulders and legs and a bolt of icy water was invading his skin to wrench his bones back into place.

Oh he definitely wasn't winning any points. Not at all.

He was pretty sure he peed himself a little.

He also threw up as soon as he was able to move his head.

But his rib was back in place, and with a few more seconds of water infiltrating his throat he could breathe easily again.

Zuko let Aang curl into his lap. He was still shaking, so was Aang. He just- "What happened?" did they get attacked? They looked to still be in the same place as last night. Was it even the next day? Who knew what day he'd woken up in.

Really, so long as another hundred years hadn't passed he was sure he'd be able to live with it.

A shaky hand cupped his head, Katara, a little ways off now, Aang hearing her wiping off her dress saying, "Zuko said you were choking. You weren't breathing Aang."

That didn't really answer anything.

Thankfully she went on, "Thankfully, he knows basic medical care otherwise…"

He could fill in the blank.

"Wh- what was?" He pointed to his throat, his arm hurting the whole way up. He thought he'd injured his chest not his arm, why did that hurt? Why did all of him hurt?

He saw Katara share a look with the others over his head, a slow, "Nothing. There was nothing there Aang," said.

But that didn't make sense. The whole reason for choking was that there was something blocking his windpipe and if there was nothing there then- "We're not sleeping outside again," he heard Zuko mutter, then mutter again like an almost promise to himself as his shaking hands continued to grab onto whatever they could of Aang.

Zuko thought the spirit world was responsible for this. Was that even possible? His dream hadn't been so much spirit related as it had been- a great mass of burning and something not quite human crawling towards him.

Right.

Maybe it had been spirit related.

Later, once the panic had died down, and by that Aang meant them all seeking shelter inside, the doors sealed tight and Zuko sitting behind him jumping at every little thing, Aang asked about his dream. About the land the Fire Nation had destroyed.

According to Zuko it had been the coastal cities and villages that resided on the edge of the mainland. They'd burned miles upon miles of homes along with even longer stretches of land. Even now, he said, nothing grew there, the land still recovering from the pure heat Ozai and his fleet had caused.

Aang took a moment to let the guilt of not stopping that monstrosity wash over him. Then, afterwards, focused on what Zuko had said.

Not just cities. Earth.

Aang hadn't been at a city in his dream. He thought there might be a village or town ahead of him, somewhere just within earshot, but as far as he was aware there was nothing but greenery beneath his feet. The ocean was a spirit. The moon. The shadows Aang saw sometimes both awake and asleep. Why not the earth? Or, at least, that stretch of earth.

He didn't sleep for three days thinking about it. Actually he didn't sleep for three days because he was afraid too, and so was Zuko who actually nudged Aang awake if he so much as looked at the ground for too long. In the end he passed out on Appa as they flew through the night to one of the islands they were thinking of liberating next.

"I've been thinking," Aang said, leaned against Appa's saddle as they took off again.

"Always a tricky thing," Toph interrupted him.

"I've been thinking," Aang said louder, "Maybe I should go to Ba Sing Se."

He didn't think he'd seen Zuko turn around so fast in his life, "Are you insane! What on earth do you want to go there for? Do you have a death wish? Because that's all you're getting if you so much as look at Ba Sing S-"

"Hear me out," Aang insisted, doing his best to fight over Zuko's quite loud tone. "I swear it's a good reason."

"There is no reason good enough on this earth for going there before we have an army big enough to take on my uncle. It'd be like marching into Caldera, but worse because my Uncle still actually knows how to fight."

Interesting tid bit he was saving for later. "I know. But I'm not going there looking for a fight. They won't even know it's me. But I've been thinking about all this spirit stuff and how it's… it's getting worse Zuko. I have to figure do something about it. And you said yourself your uncle knows about the Spirit World. Maybe he'll have some answers."

"And you think he's just going to hand them to you?" Zuko demanded, Aang swearing his face was probably red, it usually was when he was mad.

"No, that's why I'm going to be in disguise," he said. "You know, tattoos covered, Fire Nation dressed. It's worked for us so far when we go scouting."

There was a set to Zuko's jaw that spoke of calming breaths being implemented.

"Look," He said, "If I don't get some answers about this then I may as well just hand myself over to Ba Sing Se anyway. The way things are going the Spirits are going to kill me before we even think about an attack plan. I know you don't like it, but I'm not asking for permission. I'm scared Zuko."

"So am I," came quietly over to him.

Toph cleared her throat, Aang actually forgetting they had an audience. For their part Toph and Katara didn't look all too happy about listening in on their argument either, Toph hesitantly asking, "So, we're going to Ba Sing Se?"

"Of course not," Katara snapped. Her head slowly whipping around to Zuko and Aang, "At least, we're not."

"Actually," Aang started, bracing himself against both of the glares coming at him now, "I was kind of hoping Toph could come with me."

"Toph?" Katara repeated, Aang hearing the unsaid, 'not me?'

"Well, Ba Sing Se is an Earth Kingdom city, and while the Fire Nation may have conquered it, you gotta admit having an earthbender in an Earth city is strategically a good call."

There was a huff from Appa's head, Zuko turning his back on all of them.

"Great," Katara said, flopping back into her own seat, "So you're all just leaving me then."

"Well-"

"Oh come on princess," Toph sighed, "Are you really that mad at being asked to stay behind? Just think of all that kissy time you can sneak in now you're not babysitting Aang for half the day."

"Hey!" It wasn't babysitting. He was older than her. If anything, he was babysitting Katara. Or, none of them were babysitting the other since they were practicing their bending. "Besides," he focused back on task, "Zuko's not coming either."

"The fuck I'm not," Carried over to him.

"You're a wanted-"

"So are you!" Which was a fair point.

But, "You have a more distinguishable face."

To that Zuko just turned around and pointed to his own forehead, eyes wide with rage.

"My tattoos can be covered."

"So can my face. You are not going to Ba Sing Se without me."

They fought right up to Appa dropping them off on the hill he'd done so last time they'd been here. Instead of Zuko's usual black he'd decked himself out in some spare clothes the Fire Nation kids offered up, his face full of some pale paste that did its best to hide the harsh red of Zuko's scar. Those dual swords were strapped to his back, and so far any attempt at Aang asking him to please think about his own safety were met with a glare so intense it made Aang fear the people Zuko had inherited it from more.

Finally, when the broken wall to Ba Sing Se was in sight, Aang couldn't argue anymore. Swallowing down the rest of his worry, and making sure his green garb was on properly, he followed Zuko and Toph's confident lead up to the guards standing sentry, checking everything that went in and out of the city.

They didn't need papers. Thankfully one mention of who Toph was and the threat of her parents coming down here personally to give Emperor Iroh, not the guards, the Emperor, a piece of their mind, had them stepping aside and wishing them a good day.

"I thought your parents were wimps," Aang muttered.

Toph heard him anyway, "They are but money speaks to money." Which sort of made sense.

The wall itself didn't directly lead into Ba Sing Se, and in the hours that followed Aang was reminded, once more, why he hated this city.

The tram was cramped and smelled like years of sweat. When they came to a stop there was a fight right at the station. There were no carriages to take them to the top which meant they had to walk and… it was just hot. So, very hot.

Aang wanted to blame the Fire Nation's influence but he couldn't. Ba Sing Se was always hot, even in his time. It was the result of cramping so many people into streets that had no reason to be as small as they are. Of markets that were piled one on top of the other, their steaming food blending into one wave of heat that blasted Aang until he felt like he was back in his dream.

That was just the lower ring too. To get to even the middle ring they had to do some serious covert illegal stuff. Namely use Toph's beautiful bending abilities to break through the first patch of unguarded unoccupied wall they could find.

The middle ring was just as bad as the lower ring, only here instead of seeing people sleeping on the streets Aang watched as people were taken from the streets and into buildings. Buildings Aang remembered Bumi telling him were courthouses. Places most that wandered into never got back out. Ba Sing Se wasn't known for its mercy.

"Keep an ear out for the Dai Li," Aang mumbled, knowing Toph's senses were keener than his own. Zuko's too. Aang swore he heard as good as Momo sometimes. It was why he made sure to be at least two miles away before sticking his hand down his pants in the mornings.

"Easy for you to say," Toph muttered back, "I can't keep an ear out for someone I've never met before. Who knows what they sound like."

"Earthbenders," Zuko said simply, and Aang guessed that did help Toph out a little since she did mention something about them having a tail an hour later.

Earthbenders moved a distinctive way, just like other benders did. They were more heavy footed, according to the other two, and as they walked Aang found it particularly interesting to watch the different way Toph and Zuko moved through the streets. Toph definitely had a stomp to her walk. Zuko too, but where Toph's was heavy, Zuko kept to the balls of his feet, ready to spring up and sprint off depending on the situation.

He started wondering about how he moved after a while. But, figured since Toph called him twinkletoes he figured that answered his question a little.

Did other benders notice these things he wondered. Could they tell just from how people walked what nationality they were? If so Aang might be in a little more trouble than he initially thought.

"Down this way," Toph herded them, fetching some money out of her coin purse to buy food of all things.

After a few hasty purchases and Aang chewing happily on some noodles Toph told them they'd lost whoever was following them.

"They'll probably check in at some point. Hopefully we'll be at the palace by then," she said, turning in a circle before guiding them through the long streets again.

It took almost a whole day to break through the last ring and make their way to the palace steps. Even then they cheated a little and hired a carriage to take them a few hundred streets or so. Just to give their aching feet a rest.

It was strange, Aang could walk for miles through forests and villages, yet bring him to Ba Sing Se and he swears there's a blister forming on his pinky toe.

When they finally got to the palace Aang… well, he hadn't thought this through, and Zuko told him so when they planned a strategic retreat to the nearest ring of houses so as not to arouse suspicion.

"Maybe we can sneak in as a guard?" Aang suggested. They'd found an abandoned house. There were quite a lot of them in the upper ring, and just the thought of these being put to good use, say as, he didn't know, homes for those in the lower ring, had him hating Ba Sing Se all the more.

"A guard?" Zuko parroted, "And what's a guard going to do? You want to talk with my uncle, not guard his life."

Right.

"Maybe he could go in disguised as a guard then use it to force information out of your uncle when he's all alone." The 'force' part wasn't really working for him, but it was nice Toph had ideas.

Much more helpful than Zuko's glower.

"Maybe…" Aang tried to follow that thread, "Maybe I could disguise myself as a noble? He must have tea with nobles right? Toph! You're from a good family." Ooh, maybe they could use that.

Yet, "No, no, no, we are not using me."

"Why?"

"Because," she barked, softening slightly as she continued, "Word's probably got around that I ditched my fire husband. It's a wonder we weren't stopped getting in here. No way am I chancing my luck in the palace."

Which was fair. "Okay, still, maybe we can use the noble idea."

They went on until the moon was high in the sky and then went on some more. Long enough for Toph to go to sleep and Zuko to be awake enough to remember just why they needed to see his uncle.

He was pacing to keep himself awake. Back and forth, back and forth until Zuko grabbed his arm and dragged him to the floor. "I… might have an idea," Zuko muttered.

"Really?" He didn't exactly trust Zuko with a plan, namely to carry it out, but the plans he came up with weren't bad per se. Not like Sokka's plans but they were definitely better than anything Aang came up with sometimes.

"It's," he sighed, fingers coming up to brush against Aang's neck. His skin was tingling so much he almost didn't catch the actual plan. "Lu Ten has your necklace. I know he knows."

"I told him you were a spirit." Something any kid that had been captured that day would agree with as well.

Zuko shook his head, "Doesn't matter. The point is that any word of the Avatar will get you into the palace. You say you saw the Avatar in one of the ports, maybe he was scouting, my uncle's gonna want to know."

"You think that will work?" It would get him into the palace but not actually talking about what he wanted to.

Yet Zuko had thought of that too. "It will. And if you mention the Blue Spirit, maybe ask him about what to do about spirits or whatever it is you want to know, then you have an in."

"You make it sound like we're going to be talking over dinner."

Zuko's face twisted in reply, not really an answer. Instead he demanded, "You're going to be careful, right? As soon as you think something's going wrong you're getting out of there."

He couldn't exactly make that promise. What if he didn't sense danger? Lu Ten had figured out to take him down, maybe this Iroh would know too.

Zuko's eyes narrowed, "Just be safe," he sighed, head tilting close enough Aang thought he was going to kiss him.

He was.

It was happening.

Except the kiss didn't come. Instead Zuko pulled him in for a hug, arms tight around Aang's middle.

It was while Zuko's mouth kept 'accidentally' brushing against his shoulder that Aang remembered what a coward Zuko could be at times. Not for anything important. If it were a burning building he'd run head first into it. Even a battle where he could lose his life Zuko had no qualms about diving in. But affection? Somehow that was something he couldn't bring himself to ask for. He barely initiated it, and it wasn't like he didn't want it, Aang knew he did. He knew it in the way he'd wake up in the morning with Zuko burrowed into his side. In the lingering looks he'd shoot other people hugging, like he wanted that for himself. But, somehow in that weird mind of his, he'd come to shy away from it.

Which meant, Aang realised, maybe he shouldn't wait for Zuko to make the next move. Zuko was interested, he knew this. The problem was getting to the point where Zuko was comfortable asking for what he wanted, which could be years they simply didn't have. So, taking initiative, he dragged his face from Zuko's shoulder and sought out his lips.

They were just as warm as he remembered. Soft.

They certainly weren't pliant however. As soon as Zuko got permission, as soon as he was able to breach the gap between them, Aang found himself almost bowled backwards as Zuko tried to force himself as close as he could.

He couldn't help breathing out a short giggle. It was nice feeling wanted. It was also nice actually kissing someone. So far his experience had been limited to that one outside of Omashu and, well, that's it really. There weren't many monks back at the Air Temples that had wanted to kiss him. Not after they'd learned he was the Avatar. His travels too, he'd been a little hesitant about just plainly going for it with some random person.

Thankfully Zuko didn't notice or care that Aang had no technique to speak of. Namely because he wasn't much better. Really, the amount of times their noses smushed against each other and their teeth clicked had Aang sniggering again and again. Aang supposed it probably wasn't easy for Zuko, either, to find someone to kiss. First with that mask, and then, well he was more aggressive than a saber tooth moose.

It took a bit of trial and error to find the right angles. A little more to leave the more intense stuff for a later date and just enjoy the brush of their lips against each other.

A pebble being flung into his scalp was what finally got them to separate. Aang had honestly forgotten Toph was there. He quickly remembered however as she pulled a face and sent a wall of earth up between them. "I did not need to wake up to that."

"Then maybe you should have stayed asleep," Zuko grumbled, looking a lot more put together than Aang as he stepped around Toph's wall. "You ready?"

Aang shook his head, but this was the best solution they had, and, if nothing else, he could always resort to Toph's plan if things went south. "Are you staying out here?"

Zuko nodded, "They'll…" he pointed to his face, now only a few places covered in that makeup.

"Yeah." they'd know straight away if he walked in like that. "You keep Toph. If anything happens," he told both of them now, "don't wait for me. If your uncle is half as smart as you say he is he won't want to kill me. It's better regrouping with Katara and planning an actual breakout again than going in solo."

Toph snorted, and, yeah, Aang didn't really need to tell her that. But she wasn't the one that ran in head first without thinking.

"I'll be fine," he told Zuko, chancing another quick kiss when Toph turned her back. "Go shopping or something. Maybe get more of those noodles." Those blessed, lovely noodles that were the first thing Aang had of decent food in weeks. Usually they lived off rations or whatever they could scrounge up from the houses they visited.

Zuko hummed, the pair of them switching shirts so Zuko could pull the hood of Aang's over his face. "You have until sundown."

"Sundown," Aang agreed, sneaking a short hug with Toph in before retracing his steps back to the palace.

They didn't give him the odd looks he'd gotten yesterday. Aang put it down to the Fire Nation red that was on his chest now. Also that these were probably different guards.

He didn't exactly know which one to approach, and eventually just tried the front door. The guards blocked it, as Aang thought they would. "I er, I have news for the Emperor." That's what he was right? Emperor? That was what they'd called him. "It's about the Avatar."

The guards shared a look, taking one long glance at him. Aang straightened his back, making himself look more official or desperate, one or the other.

Something was agreed upon anyway, one of the guards calling a servant over and telling them to relay the news to the Dragon of the West.

Maybe not Emperor after all.

It was a long few minutes of waiting. Then more waiting. Then even more waiting. Waiting so long even the guards were starting to look sorry for him as he slid to the ground. "I'm used to softer ground," he explained.

"Colonies?" One of the guards asked.

Aang nodded.

He got a small smile from the other, "Can't remember the last time I was in one of the colonies. Do they still have those spas running?"

He honestly didn't know. But, "I think so. It's more inland now though."

The guards nodded. "Makes sense."

Aang didn't know that it did, but they weren't sticking him with pointy spears so he happily continued lying about all the sorts of treatments the spa on his island offered as, finally, someone in green came running up to whisper something to the guards.

Their spears were set back to their usual stands, both of them inclining their heads, "Follow him, he'll take you to the waiting room."

The other guard took his arm before he got too far in, "Word of advice, don't bad mouth the tea."

"Riiight," Aang nodded, rubbing the warm mark the guard left behind the whole way inside the even harder stone floor of the palace.

The waiting room had nice comfy chairs that almost made up for the harsh stone floor. He was given food, a lot of food actually. As well as something hot for his throat. It was all very welcoming.

It also made Aang's hair stand on end.

He couldn't escape the feeling there were eyes on his back.

He was there long enough to finish one of the plates the servants had brought him. Longer again for someone to come up to him, a harried looking girl dressed in pink that took one look at him and near ran back the way she came.

He had to check after that there was nothing incriminating about his look. His tattoos were covered, even the blue line on his neck had a new scrap of cloth covering it. Nothing that would scream Avatar.

So, what? Was he just that bad looking?

He'd never thought he was ugly. Maybe this was some sort of curse. He wouldn't put it past the spirits to mess with him like this.

"Lee was it?"

He whipped around, coming face to face with what looked like another servant. "Er, yeah, that's me. Lee."

The old man came up beside him, looking into the small mirror himself, quirking one brow Aang's way, "Everything alright?"

"Fine," Aang waved off, "Just, you know, pimples." Something he'd actually managed to miss out on so far. He just hoped the guy would leave it at that.

Sure enough, "Ah, the vanity of youth." he waved Aang into one of the seats.

"Is the Dragon coming?" This guy was probably here to coach him on how to act.

The old man pursed his lips for a moment before pouring them both another cup of tea, "The Dragon is a very busy man. But, he's sent me in his place to make sure we hear everything you have to say about the Avatar. That is why you're here yes?"

Aang nodded, shoving half his drink down his throat.

"So," the old man waved him to start.

"Er." Right. Avatar. Zuko had mentioned the beginning of a story last night, something he wished, now, they'd fleshed out a bit more. "I spotted him on our coastline. Him and a few of his companions. I think they might be coming to our island next."

"Now that is news," the old man agreed. "Are you sure it was the Avatar?"

Aang nodded, "Had a flying bison and everything."

"A flying bison," The old man repeated strangely. "Interesting. And this island of yours?"

Aang did his best to answer the questions about this made up Avatar sighting. He made sure to use one of the islands they most certainly weren't planning on attacking next as his subject, but since he'd actually been to this island in the past year he thought he did a good job of selling this so called story. The old man was definitely congratulating him on taking such careful notes, telling him the Dragon of the West would definitely be throwing a few extra coins his way for this information.

"There's something else I was hoping to do while I was here," Aang said at last after he finished detailing just what the Kyoshi Warriors looked like, something that was common knowledge and he didn't feel bad about giving up. "They say the Dragon of the West knows about the Spirit World."

"The Spirit World," the old man repeated. "What would a boy like you want to know about the Spirit World?"

Aang wasn't actually sure where to start, "You're going to be talking to him right?"

The old man nodded, "I'm sure if you tell me where you're staying tonight I could have someone bring you a letter with his reply." He motioned for Aang to continue.

"Right. Er, so, say the Spirit World was invading someone's dreams. What damage could they do there?" Invading wasn't even the right word for it. It was literally dragging him from his dreams into the Spirit Realm itself.

"A novel concept," the old man said, "I've heard the Dragon talk about the Spirit World before, and very rarely has he mentioned spirits invading someone's dreams."

"But," and here Aang and Zuko had really spent time thinking about it, "Dreams are of another plane right? So, why can't they breach that world easier than this one?"

The old man blinked a few times, "I've never thought of it like that. Mostly because the Spirit Realm doesn't work as simply as that. There are two very distinctive planes of existence, their world and ours, your dreams are on this plane. While they are definitely dipping their toes into the Spirit Realm, the spirits themselves won't simply be able to invade them. Not, unless, they've been invited."

"But they haven't!" That was the thing. He'd never sat down and demanded the Spirits harass him into the next millenia. "I mean, what if this person hasn't? What if they're just there breaking into someone's mind?"

The old man shook his head, "Again I highly doubt something like that would happen. The spirits need a bridge to cross over into this world."

A bridge… "What if it was the Avatar that was having these dreams?"

More tea was poured and put into his hand, "If it was the Avatar, that would be different. The Avatar is the bridge after all. The scenario you're describing, should it be applied to the Avatar suggests that the spirits may have taken advantage of him while he was in the Avatar State. The Avatar State dips into the Spirit World, calling upon the resting place of Avatars past to guide the present one in their time of need. If a spirit highjacked that connection, even for a moment, the Avatar could be unknowingly keeping the gate between himself and the Spirit World open."

The old man grabbed a few things between them to better help explain it, but Aang got the gist. In the North Pole, when the moon spirit had fell, he'd slipped into the Avatar State, the pure fear driving him into his most primal defence mechanism. The ocean spirit had been right there. It must have, as the old man put it, 'highjacked' him, opening the gate even further than the Avatar State usually allowed. Apparently, because Aang hadn't invited it, hadn't properly sent the ocean spirit off, there was still a small gap in his soul that kept the bridge between himself and the Spirit Realm open.

It wasn't a solution, but it was nice to know there was a reason this had all started happening.

"Could they kill the Avatar?" Aang wondered when the old man was finished.

There was a pause, then, "I doubt the spirits would want to harm the Avatar. Us mortals perhaps, we have done things to this world that warrant it. But the Avatar is as important to them as he is to us. If… say this person was being harmed in their sleep, perhaps it is merely a side effect of what the spirits are trying to tell him."

"And what are they trying to tell him?"

The old man shrugged, "What are these dreams about?"

They were about nothing really. Dreams of his past lives. Of his deaths. Of watching the earth burn.

But maybe that was the point.

So far, the only good ones he'd had were when he was strolling through an absent part of the Spirit World. Maybe undetected. Maybe the dreams that were purposefully coming to him were of a different variety. Ones, maybe with more meaning than he'd put into them before.

They had to have something in common. The question was what.

"I hope I can give you some answers young Lee," the old man said when the pause between them got too long.

"Oh, yeah, thank you."

The last dregs were poured out between them once more, "Although I do wonder why the interest in spirits in the first place. Last I heard your little island was free of spirits."

"Yeah, no we are." He remembered where he was, "I mean, we were but, well, the Avatar's travelling with the Blue Spirit isn't he. I thought it best to find out all I could just in case the Spirit came back."

"Ah," the old man nodded, "Now that does make sense."

There was a clatter down the hall before more could be said. Aang felt a chill run down his spine just before a discerning, "Fath...er," reached his ears, a familiar head turning the corner and locking eyes with him.

Lu Ten.

Zuko's cousin.

"Ah," the old man didn't look too worried, turning to Lu Ten with a happy smile, "there you are. Come meet our guest Lee. Lee, this is my son. He's hoping to join the army soon aren't you?"

There was a moment shared between them, Aang filling in the blanks long before they got their so called stories straight. The old man wasn't a servant. This was the Dragon. This was Iroh, Zuko's uncle, and while he may be a little soft in the middle, Aang had just been shown that he wasn't someone to underestimate. He'd just spilled his troubles to Zuko's uncle, and had he known that he definitely would have been more careful in how he phrased things.

Lu Ten came over to his father, eyes a little clearer now the shock was wearing off. Even still, Aang could tell, he could just tell, that Lu Ten knew who he was. What's more, Lu Ten knew that Aang knew who he was and knew who Lu Ten was back.

Yet, "Lee," Lu Ten said, "What brings you to Ba Sing Se?"

"I-" he choked on the rest of his words.

"Lee here is telling me all about his sighting of the Avatar for me to tell the Dragon later." He gave Lu Ten a few friendly elbows.

Lu Ten looked used to his father's behaviour, focusing instead on Aang, quirking a brow much like his father, much like Zuko, "Oh really?"

"I-" he tried again, clearing his throat, and noticing something shiny out the corner of his eye. There, wrapped around Lu Ten's wrist, was a bracelet. No, not a bracelet, Aang's necklace. "I said all I needed to. If you could just tell the Dragon all I've said I would be most grateful." he carefully got to his feet. "I must be going, I'm sure it's getting late and you have duties to get too."

He had his hands raised for a bow before remembering Iroh wasn't playing as the Dragon right now.

They dropped back to his side, Aang nodding his head instead, "Thanks for the tea. It was great."

"Oh, if you're sure." Iroh got to his feet too, "If you see one of the servants near the doors they'll have a few coins for your troubles. Make sure you get back to your inn too. I'll be sure to send that letter to you by morning."

Aang nodded again, skirting slowly around the room.

Lu Ten grabbed him before he could even get to the door, Aang was sure this was it, yet, "I'll make sure he gets out okay."

"Such a good boy," Aang heard as he was led away, Lu Ten's grip strong on his arm.


	17. Chapter 17

They were going the right way, Aang gave Lu Ten that. They even ended up at the doors, where Lu Ten indeed got Aang those coins his father had promised. They didn't get any further than that however, namely because if they went through the doors there would be guards, and the guards would bow and any semblance of keeping this 'guard in training' guise alive would be gone.

Aang thought he would be clocked on the head again. Maybe held in a headlock until he lost consciousness.

Lu Ten did none of those things, waving his arm out to the door, "Go on then."

As much as Aang wanted to question it, actually doing so would lead to this odd truce being dispelled. Maybe Lu Ten didn't know it was actually Aang under here. It was possible. Aang had grown his hair out a little more, and without his tattoos on display like they had been at the jail he could be mistaken for anyone.

So, saying nothing, he made his way as fast and as subtly as he could.

His idea that maybe Lu Ten hadn't known who he was lasted until he was about a street away from the palace. It was as he was turning the corner when he felt something was wrong. Like he was being watched.

His instincts were messed up, that was for sure, but even on the off chance they were right Aang took a few wrong turns to see if that feeling would go away.

It didn't.

If anything it got worse, and it was as he was considering going home that it dawned on him just why Lu Ten might have wanted to keep Aang's identity a secret. Why capture just the Avatar when Aang could lead him to whichever accomplices were in Ba Sing Se with him as well.

He couldn't go back to the house.

They had a plan for Zuko and Toph to leave at sundown if he hadn't come back, but Aang didn't believe for a moment Zuko would actually do that. He had a feeling any message he might have sent through someone else would be intercepted. Which meant somehow stumbling upon Zuko and Toph while he was out. He told them to go shopping, maybe they'd done just that.

He started in the middle ring, finding those stalls they'd stumbled upon yesterday. The ones that were a little pricier than anything they could hope to possibly afford but Toph took great care in trying everything on there anyway.

He couldn't hear Toph, that was for certain, no matter how long he wandered those streets.

He was tempted to go to the lower tier and try his luck. But, who was to say they weren't still at the house. If he took that risk and left them in the upper ring he might not be able to get back up there. The carriages running between all three were far more than the small coins Aang had in his pocket. He'd have to sneak back up, which would waste time, something he had a limited amount of.

He turned back, and ran head first into a familiar, very pink, girl. "Head down," she hissed, forcing Aang's head lower than he would have liked. "Look like you're interested and follow me."

She linked their arms, dragging him towards… somewhere.

"I can't believe you're actually here. When Mai sent over that poster I was sure she had it wrong, I mean, why would the Avatar go to Omashu? But here you are." She chattered, mentioning something about his aura as she took him down three more bends. He barely kept up with it all, feeling like he had whiplash as she finally asked "Did you do it then?"

"Do it?" he repeated.

"The note," the girl said, "The one Mai gave you. She said she gave it to you."

The note? The note! Oh he'd completely forgotten about it. "Right. Er, here's the thing, I may have accidentally destroyed it." By forgetting it was there and washing his clothes with it still in there.

"Good." Obviously this girl didn't understand that as she nodded her head, "Good, it means we don't have a paper trail."

"No, I mean I didn't read it. What was on it?"

The girl shrugged, not looking too bothered, "Probably some kind of instructions. But Mai said if you had half a brain you wouldn't follow them so they probably weren't anything important."

"Okay." This was a lot. "Look, I have to get out of here at some point. My friends-"

"Zuko's waiting for you at the station with that weird earth girl."

She knew. She knew who Zuko was. What's more she'd spoke to him.

"Don't look so worried. We're on your side."

He didn't know what to do with that. He wanted to believe her, but, Ba Sing Se wasn't known for being trustworthy, its people less so. "I don't even know you."

"Zuko does," the girl promised, sticking her hand out between them, "And I'm Ty Lee. My sister's married to Lu Ten."

Oh good, relatives. "If your sister's married to Lu Ten then why are you-"

She slapped a hand over his mouth, "Not too obvious. There's eyes and ears everywhere here. Best we get you out, Zuko's not known for his patience."

She was taking him through a back route. Something Aang didn't completely trust. He was sure at any moment the Dai Li or Lu Ten was going to corner them down a street and Ty Lee was going to end up betraying him. But that time didn't come. Ty Lee, for all her odd cheer, was true to her word. She got him through all three rings and to the train station without any problems. She even hung around and bought him supper as they waited for Toph and Zuko to appear.

When they did, Aang felt more than saw Ty Lee tense, a blinding smile overcoming her face until it dropped, leaving her standing just as wide eyed as Zuko. "What's wrong with your eye?"

The makeup was back on. But even with it his eye wasn't exactly normal. He could barely open it, and, like yesterday, the makeup had worn off in places leaving it red and aggravated. "My eye? I thought I told you not to get involved."

Aang intercepted before anything else could be said, "I thought they thought you were dead?" Meaning Ty Lee would think so too.

"He ran into me when he broke into Ba Sing Se a few months ago," Ty Lee answered easily. "He was wearing that stupid theatre mask his mom used to make him wear when they did 'love amongst dragons' for her."

Oh he was saving that information for later.

"I thought it was just a disguise," Ty Lee went on, "Not… Zuko what happened?"

She tried to grab his face, Zuko skirting around her until he was hiding behind Aang. "It's nothing. You should get going, they'll be looking for you."

Ty Lee scoffed, "All six of my sisters are at the palace right now, trust me, they don't notice when I go missing."

Zuko grabbed Aang's arm anyway, "We have to go."

The last train would be coming in any minute now, and if they didn't catch it they would be stuck here for another night. Not something Aang wanted seeing as they'd just lost the Dai Li. He didn't particularly want to go through that wild goose chase again so soon.

Aang said his goodbye, Toph throwing one out too. They got to about the station steps before common sense took over, Aang running back to where Ty Lee was about, from the looks of it, to take to the roofs. "Wait," he caught her before she could leap. "Why don't you come with us?"

He had a whole speech planned out. He was going to ask if she was really happy here? If she thought being here was helpful? She had said she was on their side, so why not actually be on their side. As strategic as it would be to keep Ty Lee in Ba Sing Se, Aang had a feeling she was only here temporarily, and who knew how temporarily that might be when the Dai Li reported they'd seen a girl in pink leading the boy who'd come to the palace out of Ba Sing Se.

Yet, he didn't have to say any of that. He didn't even finish talking before she was hugging him tight to her chest. "I thought you'd never ask," she let him go skipping over to loop her arm with Zuko's.

The whole train ride back was quiet. As was the long walk to Appa. Flying was quiet too. Well, save for Ty Lee who kept squealing in glee, arms raised as they went through a rather cold cloud. Aang's kind of girl, honestly. Maybe she would help him to persuade Zuko to let them go ride the monkeys in their down time.

It only took listening to the quiet behind him for Aang to decide to land a little away from their meet up spot with Katara. If he was going to be bringing Ty Lee into the fold he wanted the other two on his side beforehand. Mainly because Katara scared him when she got angry, and as good as Aang was getting at waterbending, she was getting better too, and she'd always been one step ahead of him.

So, making sure they were away from any town or city, he took Appa's saddle off and told the others to get a fire going.

Save for Toph's, "Great, more time wasting," the other two weren't too bothered about prolonging their trip.

Ty Lee for one was ecstatic. "I've never started a fire before. Can we do it the non bender way? I saw some people do it when I was training in the circus but they never let me do it myself. Gotta keep the performers in tip top condition and all."

Zuko just sighed and led Ty Lee off, looking for all the world like a man that was used to it.

Alone with Toph he worked on breaking her down first. "It was a strategic decision."

"Sure," Toph snorted. "Not because she's pretty?"

"How do you-"

"I can read heartbeats idiot. Both yours, Zuko's and every other guy's back there skipped a few beats when they saw her." Well that called into question just what else Toph could tell with that fancy skill of hers. "So wanna run that 'decision' by me again."

"It was strategic." Really. "And you know I'm taken," kind of. He'd kissed Zuko twice now anyway. "Just because she's pretty doesn't mean I wasn't thinking with my head. She's lived in Ba Sing Se for who knows how long now Toph. Or at least visits. Her sister is married to Zuko's cousin, she knows that Mai girl, she has connections. She's useful." And, "I also didn't want to leave her there Toph. The Dai Li followed us a good way back. They know she brought me out of the city."

"So?"

"So," he sighed, going over what had happened to Toph. About Lu Ten being at the palace and just, letting him go. "I know he knew who I was. I think he let me go so I'd lead them to you guys. He was probably seeing how many people were in his city, taking names and planning a takedown. If we'd left Ty Lee there she'd be questioned at most." and all of them knew questioning was a kind word for torture in any of the three nations.

Toph sighed, leaning back on her hands. "I don't know," she eventually said. "I don't know if this is a good idea. What if she turns on us?"

"Then you'll be the first to know," Aang said, which, both of them knew was a fair point. "I don't think she will though." It was just a feeling he got.

Toph mulled it over for a while longer. Long enough for Aang to start hearing the other two coming back. Then, "Fine."

"Thank you." That left just one.

They let Ty Lee try her hand at the fire, Aang's fingers itching every time her rocks made no sparks just to help her out. Zuko took him aside before he could however, dragging him over to the treeline, his careful breathing telling Aang maybe there was a reason those rocks weren't sparking. Could Zuko do that?

Aang started before Zuko could, "I know what you're going to say, that it was a bad idea and that I was stupid for inviting her. But-"

Zuko cut him off with a wave of his hand, "Don't care. What did my uncle say to you?"

"You…" okay, Aang could work with this, "Er, about the spirits?"

Zuko nodded.

"Oh, right, er he said that it was probably caused by the ocean spirit at the North Pole. That they're not necessarily trying to harm me, more, tell me something." That something still eluding him.

"Did he tell you how to stop it?" Zuko pressed.

Aang rubbed the back of his neck, "Kind of?"

"Kind of?" Zuko repeated.

"I mean," Aang shrugged, "I couldn't exactly ask him outright, Lu Ten interrupted, and what he said before that-"

"Lu Ten was there?" Zuko shook his head, saying more to himself "Of course he was there that's where he lives. No wonder Ty Lee brought you back."

"Yeah, and the Dai Lee saw her, and probably reported it to your cousin so I thought, better he come with us right?" Best to just get it out there.

Zuko nodded absentmindedly, "My uncle," he reminded Aang after a moment.

"Yes, he said that I'm the Avatar so I should be able to close the portal or something." He didn't actually say that but Aang could pretty much fill in the blanks now he knew how his dreams were being sent to him.

Zuko blinked a few times at him before demanding, "Did my uncle actually tell you anything important or did the two of you just sit there drinking tea for five hours?"

Aang shrugged, "We did both?"

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose. Hard.

"Hey!" Ty Lee called, "I did it!"

"That's great." He left Zuko to his wallowing, sprinting over before anything else could be said to help Ty Lee baby the sparks into a full blown fire.

They didn't have any food to speak of. Thankfully they'd all ate in Ba Sing Se. Sure, it was almost morning now, and Aang was starting to feel a little hunger. But he could push it to the side, and so could the others. Honestly the only problem here would have been if Sokka had joined them.

As it was, tired, and Sokka-less, they all found whatever short amount of sleep they could before starting back to Katara and their resistance.

"When are you going to try it?" Zuko asked, sliding next to Aang on Appa's head as they passed one of the last islands before the start of their own.

He pursed his lips, "Tomorrow? Maybe? I don't know. Now I know they're trying to tell me something I don't know if I should close it or not." Or even if he knew how to. Sure, saying he just had to close a portal sounded easy, but he'd barely delved into the Spirit World. He'd been too afraid to.

"And what if they try and get you tonight? Aang you stopped breathing. Just because they're not trying to kill you doesn't mean they won't."

Which was a fair point.

"And their message? If they have any sense they'd try and deliver it without choking you. Close the portal. Please."

Zuko was looking when Aang turned his head, eyes begging Aang to just listen this once. He couldn't exactly argue with it. "Fine. But," he put in just in case he got yelled at tomorrow, "I don't know if I can do it first try. It might take a while. I've never done something like this before."

"You haven't done a lot of things before," Zuko pointed out, "But I have faith in you."

Zuko must have really been worried if he was actually saying this stuff out loud. Usually it was subtext. He couldn't help maybe taking advantage of this worry to lean over and steal a quick kiss.

One that finished with a little, "Aw," coming from the saddle. Ty Lee was leaning over the edge, watching the two of them like they were some kind of opera. In under a second however, that cutesy look was gone and replaced with something Aang would expect to see on Sokka. Something filled with glee and the promise to never let them live this down. "Mai's gonna be so disappointed."

"Shut up," Zuko snapped.

His warning went unheard, "She used to have a thing for you."

"Ty Lee," he ground out.

Aang tried to picture Mai, "The gloomy girl?" as having a crush.

"She's not gloomy," Zuko hissed.

Ty Lee shrugged, "She kind of is. But that's why we love her. And that's why she looooves you Zu-"

There was a small blast of fire that Ty Lee skillfully evaded. Looks like the circus had taught her some tricks. "Hey," she didn't sound mad, usual grin on her face, "Your firebending's gotten better."

"Shut up," Zuko whined.

That was their whole ride back.

Katara was waiting for them, Haru by her side and was that a mustache? They hadn't been away that long. Had they? He heard Zuko smother a snigger behind him, the pair of them taking a moment to brace themselves before breaking the news to Katara they had another mouth to feed.

Aang left it to Toph to take care of Katara's sudden anger. Grabbing Ty Lee he dragged her far from the firing zone and over to where their 'living' quarters were. They barely used them. Or, well, the others barely used them, Aang liked the four walls enclosing him every now and then. It didn't always stop the dreams, but it made Aang feel safer.

"So that's Katara's bed, but she spends most nights with Haru these days." Usually for midnight strolls and, on more than one occasion, Katara showing off for him under the weight of the moon. "Toph sleeps outside so if you want her bed it's that one." They didn't have one for Sokka and Suki here. They'd need to rectify that. Or, maybe not since Aang was sure they would be moving before Sokka came back.

"It's all so rustic," she said, smile still on her face. It was rather like spending time with Toph, everything Aang thought she would mind she actually didn't.

"Yeah, well, war and all."

He showed Ty Lee the rest of the village. Momo, who often liked to grace them with his presence when he was bored harassing the rest of the people here. The well. The people. It was small but it was home for now.

"I think Zuko might be able to give you lessons if you're interested in fighting. Otherwise, I'm sure there's a place for you on the war council." He wasn't going to let her just fade into the background. He'd let her find her own place here, but there was no way he wasn't utilising her at some point.

"Oh I'm not a firebender," Ty Lee said.

Aang nodded, "I meant other lessons. He fights with dual swords more than his bending."

There was a short snort from Ty Lee at that, "He still plays with those? His uncle gave them to him you know. They were a present before he… well before we thought he'd died. Azula was so jealous."

Aang held his tongue, leading her around the rest of the village and back to where Katara was, well she wasn't calm, but she definitely wasn't flinging water around anymore.

When she caught sight of Aang he almost ducked for cover. Almost. He did spend most nights terrorizing Zuko after all.

"So," Aang nudged Ty Lee a little in front of him, "This is Katara. And that's Haru."

Haru, at least, had the decency to shake Ty Lee's hand.

"So, now we've all gotten to know each other, I'm gonna," he zipped off, narrowly dodging a water hand trying to grab him.

He hid himself away on a roof, pacing around for a while before deciding to just do it. Just get it over with. It wouldn't be too bad. He was the Avatar. He could do this. He could do this .

Taking a deep breath, he sat and focused. He could do this. He'd trained for it, he'd made contact with Roku before so this shouldn't be any different.

He cleared his mind of all worldly problems. Focused.

Yet all he managed was a few hours of meditation. No matter how much Aang tried he couldn't get himself over to the Spirit World.

"Here," something delicious was wafted under his nose.

"Noodles?"

Ba Sing Se noodles. "I got them for when you came back," Zuko said, perching next to him.

Aang dug in, finishing the bowl faster than he would have liked.

He got back to meditating when he was finished, Zuko a solid presence behind him. He'd never say it, but Aang knew Zuko was there in case something went wrong. He could be pretty loud when he wanted to be, and Aang was sure Katara would come running no matter how mad she might be at Aang right now.

He still couldn't cross over, and before he knew it night had fallen and Zuko was snoring on Aang's knee.

"We'll try again tomorrow," Aang decided, grabbing under Zuko's knees and carrying him inside.

Ty Lee was the only one there when he stumbled in. She wasn't completely asleep, poking one eye open before, and Aang hadn't even realised she was tense, relaxing back into her pallet.

"He okay?" she asked.

"Fine," Aang mumbled back, shifting Zuko to his usual spot, "Just passed out in an uncomfortable place."

Apparently that hadn't been uncommon when Ty Lee had known him since she sent a small snort his way before turning her back. "Goodnight."

"Night."

The spirits must have known he was onto them since they didn't bother messing with him the whole week he tried to get in touch with them. He didn't even get dreams of his past lives, that was how much they were leaving him alone.

He didn't like it. He didn't trust the spirits at all, and he knew for certain they hadn't gotten their message across. This was just a strategic retreat.

Well, Aang could work with that.

"What's the status on the supplies?" Aang asked, brush stiff in his hand. It was already red and aggravated from how long it had sat, tense, as Toph, Katara and Zuko told him about the various messages they'd gotten.

Katara lay down the scrap of paper that had come this morning, "Sokka said it's going to take another month. But he's sending Suki back before then. Apparently there's been some trouble around the Southern seas she's checking out before meeting us back here to plan another take over."

So they'd have at least one of their commanders back soon. That was good. Even if Sokka was needing to stay longer. He felt a little useless with no one to boss him around, and Katara didn't count.

"That's still too long. We're going to have to go back to Omashu." He just hoped Mai would be willing to help them again. Toph had already said she would be, that Toph had warned her they would probably be back, but Aang had always secretly hoped their deal with the South would be worked out before then.

"Maybe we can send Ty Lee to do the negotiations for us. She's so 'willing to help'," Katara falsettoed.

"You should be glad she's here at all," Zuko snapped. Surprisingly, after the first few days of avoiding Ty Lee, he ended up spending the most time with her. Aang knew half of it was trying to ask about his sister, but Aang also thought Zuko just genuinely liked her. They went back a long way after all, and she was probably the only familiar thing he had of his old life left. According to Toph Zuko probably liked her because she was 'girl Aang'. Meaning she talked so much Zuko didn't even need to answer, and for a quiet guy like him it was probably easier for him to socialise like that. Meaning, "You might mock her but sending Ty Lee is probably one of the best ideas you've had yet. She knows Mai, she's a Fire Nation noble. Even if word has reached Omashu about her disappearing she's a proficient liar, and her fighting skills are unparalleled."

"Really?" Aang asked. He'd heard Zuko had been sparring with her since, well, Zuko told him whenever Aang asked about the new bruise he had. He knew she was good, just not 'unparalleled'.

"She's a chi blocker," Zuko explained. "Flexible and fast too. She trained with my sister." And if that wasn't proof of her skill Aang didn't know what was.

If a girl like Azula, a so called prodigy, had thought Ty Lee good enough to train with her, then Aang had definitely made a good decision in asking her to come.

"Then we'll send Ty Lee," Aang decided. "Toph, you too."

"Fine," Toph agreed. Aang knew he could always count on her to do the dangerous stuff.

"Great. Now what else?"

Skirmishes on some of the islands. A breakout at one of the prisons. Maintaining freedom was hard without Suki, but they were making it work.

They coordinated with the ships, and in under two weeks waved Ty Lee and Toph off as they went to Omashu. "If they don't come back with Mai I'll be surprised," Zuko sighed, mask on now they were surrounded by people.

"Mai," Aang repeated, grin on his face "Should I be worried if they do turn up with her? You seemed awfully defensive when Ty Lee mentioned-"

Zuko strode off before Aang could finish. He didn't worry about it. About Mai. Zuko was his own person, and Gyatso had always said to trust people to make their own mind up. Whatever happened was going to happen if Aang got jealous or not, so, why bother wasting time on jealousy? It wasn't like Mai was here kissing Zuko.

Still, he made up for his teasing by sneaking some Earth Kingdom sweets over to Zuko that evening. Over them, with Appa shielding them from the rest of the village, Aang listened as Zuko told him about Azula.

"She didn't know," Ty Lee that was. "I asked her what she knew and she just looked at me. She wasn't sad though. Not like if she was…" dead. Like they'd thought Zuko had been. "So I think she's been sent away somewhere. But why would father do that? Why would Ty Lee not know? Azula wrote to her about everything. So unless father took the letters or- or she just couldn't then." He sighed, leaning back into Appa's paw, the bison sniffing around, as if sensing Zuko's sadness, and planting one long lick to his second favourite human. The first being Aang of course.

"Maybe she joined the army," Aang suggested. "Or the Navy. Maybe she's in the North Pole right now scaring Arnook and Paku into submission."

Zuko snorted, wiping off the worst of the drool, "Maybe."

It was maybe stupid of him to say, but, when it came down to it, Azula was Zuko's sister, and if they were going to take on the Fire Nation then there was a good chance Azula would turn up at some point. So, "We'll find her," he promised. "It'll be okay."

Zuko sighed, saying nothing. Aang understood anyway. Conflicting loyalties were never easy to explain.

The spirits left him alone their whole way to the first of their many problem islands. Almost immediately Aang had to fight his way to some sort of peace, the Fire Nation inmates that had escaped literally leaving nothing to chance and scorching everything and everyone in sight.

When they had them tied back up, contained but not dealt with, Aang confronted the reality that they simply needed to build a prison. A real prison.

"If we'd taken that last one over," Aang sighed, looking at the maps. "But that was for earthbenders. How do you even contain a firebender?"

"Cold," Katara said, eyes on Zuko. "Right?"

The Blue Spirit inclined his head a little.

"Cold?" Had they all not seen Zuko and the rest of the Fire Navy at the North Pole?

"Contained cold," Katara said, "If we managed to come up with something that froze them up immediately we could contain them better."

"But we don't have that." They barely had supplies to survive on nevermind invent with. He let his head thunk back into his hands for a few minutes, long enough for him to remember, "Earth. Soil, it neutralises fire." He'd seen soil be used a few times to put out fires that got a little too much for water. In the forests too, wildfires were put out with soil not water. Only when fire had nowhere else to burn would it kill itself in the soil. "We need to gather the earthbenders, have them build underground cells. The firebenders can't destroy anything if there's nothing to destroy."

It was the best idea they had. There weren't enough waterbenders to build the kind of cold Katara wanted. Even if there were they were at the North Pole, and going there right now was suicide. So, they would work with the Earth.

Haru was the first to build one of these prisons. It took him a week, and hours of recovery with Katara, but they did it. One by one Aang and the villagers led the prisoners down to their new cells, avoiding the fire some of them spat in their faces.

Aang made them wait a few days just to make sure the prison held out before telling the island they needed to go. The Avatar's work was never finished after all.

They worked on building these prisons on each of the islands they visited. Thankfully there were other earthbenders to help Haru out, meaning it didn't take a week to get it all up and running. Aang dealt with the other things that needed his attention in the meantime. The fights were, of course, over stupid, little things, like stealing and land property. Aang thought the few families he'd seen starving in the streets were more important than who had the biggest stall at the market but, he was almost always talked over, meaning it was up to the few measly coins he had available to try and help out those who really needed his help.

By the time they landed on Kyoshi Suki was well and truly back. She was stood with the other warriors waving their return. Aang almost leapt off the saddle he was so happy to see her.

"Never leave," he begged when he did get a hold of her. "You're too valuable. These past few months have been awful."

She laughed, hugging him back, "It's good to see you too."

She held her arms out for the other three, managing to catch Zuko before he slunk off for a hug of his own. Katara's was the only one that didn't manage to make contact. She held her hand out stopping Suki in place, the fingers raising to point at something blue on Suki's neck, "Is that what I think it is?"

Suki's hand immediately went to it, Aang not getting a good look between her fingers. It looked nice, unfortunately he wasn't sure everyone agreed with him as Katara demanded a closer look. "It's not what you think."

"It's a betrothal necklace! How can it not be what I think? Wait." she peered even closer, Aang slowly edging away, not wanting to listen to this blow up, "Is that my mothers?"

"Well-" Zuko dragged Aang away before he could hear the answer, the rest of the Kyoshi warriors following them almost as fast to their training hall.

There, in the peace and quiet, only mildly able to hear the fight breaking out, did the Kyoshi warriors fill them in. They also introduced them to some new guests, all of them in familiar Water Tribe blue.

The trading with the South Pole went about as expected. No one at that village was happy with it. At all.

It took Sokka weeks to persuade his Gran Gran to hear him out. Even longer for the firebenders to be allowed off the ship and start building defences around the Southern Water Tribe. The Kyoshi Warriors that had went with Suki said they'd managed to start gathering supplies, building a real stock to bring back when they'd gotten word from one of the islands that there was some kind of blockade not allowing the supplies supposedly coming from Omashu onto their land.

"As far as we know there should be furs and cloth along with preserved meat and a few bone weapons coming with the first shipment. It's not a lot, but it will be," Iki said. Then she started on the blockade itself.

Naturally, Suki being the fierce, wonderful woman she was, wasn't going to stand by and let an island of people starve, so she'd loaded one of the boats and sailed head first into the first ship that came in her way.

Despite being outnumbered, Iki said Suki scared the Water Tribe warriors, who rightfully snorted at that accusation, enough to agree to peace talks. It was only during that when the two parties realised they were on the same side.

"Sokka met us halfway," Iki said. "You should have seen him, the leader's his dad, he was crying at one point." The other warriors nodded, Aang seeing this was a good thing. "And then he and Suki were talking and he just handed her this necklace. It was so romantic."

"The gesture," one of the other girls specified, "The necklace itself was a bit," she made a face.

"Yeah," Iki agreed, "So Hakoda, Sokka's dad, was all, why don't you hold onto this and gave Sokka his mom's necklace while the two of them made a better one in the South Pole."

"I think Suki liked the first one," one of the girls said.

"She did," another agreed, "But you have to admit it's cute Sokka let her wear his moms."

Katara didn't think so.

Regardless, the rest of the time it took for Katara and Suki to duke it out Aang formally met the missing members of the Southern Water Tribe. Hakoda was missing, Iki telling him he insisted on going back with Sokka and actually doing his job as chief for once. He'd be meeting them back up along with Sokka when the first supply ship came.

Until then Bato was who Aang would be communicating with on matters of war, Hakoda's second in command and overall good 'uncle' when Katara came in red eyed before sundown and flung herself at him.

"Is dad-"

"With your brother."

He at least got Katara to calm down.

They ate just after the moon rose, Aang finally getting a look at Suki's necklace. "It's… nice." he decided on.

Bato, across from him, snorted into his cup, "Hakoda hasn't an artistic bone in his body. Something poor Sokka got too. You should have seen Kya's face when he presented her with it. He ended up swapping it out for his mom's old one in case she left him."

The other warriors across the table shared a laugh, even Katara joining in, her eyes lingering on the necklace anyway. "Mom still wore it," she said. "Sometimes."

"It's temporary," Suki said, sounding like she'd said it far too much today.

"I know," Katara ground out.

It was like that the rest of the night.

He was happy to go to bed, it meant he didn't have to watch the staring contest Katara was having with Suki's neck. Or wait, tense, for the moment Katara snapped and lunged for it.

It did make him miss his own however, the strap of cloth along his neck now not the same. It was the first thing that had been solely his since he'd left home. The rest of his stuff was gone, his clothes too torn to be worn and now bandages. His glider was an old relic, and what he was wearing now was borrowed off other people. His necklace was something he'd made himself, that no one had borrowed because they needed it.

He yawned, letting that thought go. It was gone, Lu Ten had it now. He could always make another one.

War planning was on everyone's mind in the morning. Now Suki had been brought up to speed on Ty Lee and Toph in Omashu, the new prisons and the quelled rebellions she didn't want to waste any time striking another island. "The reason there's fighting is because they're restless. We need to get this up and running again. Which means moving further north." She pointed out the island she'd had her eye on before she'd left.

Strangely, especially with what Aang knew about Water Tribe customs, they had no problem listening to Suki laying out an almost flawless battle plan. There were some amendments. Especially now they had a sort of Navy at their disposal, but by the end of three days they had a plan, and Aang had no time at all to think. They were recruiting, mobilising, checking engines and sharpening weapons.

They were fighting.

So much fighting.

By the years end they had the islands surrounding the Earth Kingdom mainland claimed.

It was colder in winter. Not as cold as the poles, but the air was chill and no longer did Aang have to cool himself down should a warm breeze come their way.

They were docked on, not even an island, just a patch of land that was big enough to house a few houses. A good vantage point to watch the walls of Omashu from. As well as their ports.

Suki was already in talks with Bato about just how they could go about taking the port for themselves. Really, Aang thought she would have struck already were it not for the letter from Sokka who had been playing catch up with them. He was a few hours away according to the last messenger hawk, and that alone was worth another days wait.

It was after nightfall when the horn sounded and a lorn ship shadowed itself on the water. Closer it crept, the familiar sails of a Water Tribe ship making all of them let out a breath in relief.

"Dad," Katara said, a smile creeping onto her face as she waited impatiently for the ship to follow the flare of light Zuko and Aang sent up to help them.

It took a while to dock a boat, but Katara, waterbender, propelled herself up before Bato and the others could finish dragging it onto the sand. There was a rush of squealing, then Sokka poking his head over the edge.

"Suki!" They both got wet when Suki tackled Sokka into the sea. Laughing, Aang was witness to Sokka formally introducing his dad, again, to his now, for real, "Better than the last I promise."

"I don't care," Suki laughed, "I don't care just give me it."

"Aw," Ty Lee said next to Aang. "He's cute. Good for her."

"How cute?" Toph asked, the next few minutes of Aang's life filled with Ty Lee rating every boy Toph and her knew in terms of cuteness. He didn't particularly like his own ranking. He did enjoy that he came before Bato however, Aang hearing more than once Ty Lee and some of the other warriors saying that if he was just that little bit younger.

Sokka didn't appear to see anyone else, letting himself be willingly dragged off by Suki to look at her new necklace in a proper light. Aang heard them go, attention more on the man following Katara off the ship.

"Hakoda," Katara said, getting an odd look off her dad for that, "Meet Aang," she held her father's hand out for him just in case he decided not to shake Aang's hand. "He's the Avatar."

"It's nice to meet you," Aang said, "I've heard a lot about you." Mostly from the last few months, Bato being more than happy to fill anyone who would listen about his friend. Strangely it was just from Bato. Katara seemed rather closed off whenever Aang brought up the subject of his dad. Aang supposed it must have been hard for her, she had assumed he was dead after all.

But then, so did Ty Lee in regards to Zuko and the two certainly weren't shy about gossiping about each other. It felt like every time he turned around either Ty Lee or Zuko was pouncing on the other, battling it out until Zuko couldn't move any longer or Ty Lee was fleeing into whatever tree was closest to her.

The hand in his gave him a firm shake, "You too. I hear we have an invasion to plan."

Aang rubbed the back of his neck, "Actually, you're kind of late for that." He supposed Hakoda wouldn't know, what with Suki telling them outright that if she heard even a rumour that someone was letting slip battle plans they'd get their fingers cut off. So, it looked like it was up to Aang to ease another Water Tribe warrior into the idea of a lady taking charge.

Hakorda took it pretty well. What with Sokka talking Suki up the whole time they'd been to the South Pole, and Suki herself almost destroying the Water Tribe warriors he had no doubt a girl of her calibre could plan and lead an army. That wasn't to say Hakoda didn't want to go over the plans, just that he trusted the majority of the thinking process to be done for him.

Meaning it was a long night for Aang.

He slept only when Suki came back from wherever she'd dragged Sokka too, looking wholeheartedly more put together than her fiance when Aang found him attempting to tie his hair back up. Appa welcomed him for his quick before battle nap with a loud yawn, Momo appearing from somewhere to chitter him into dreamland.

Idiot that he was he didn't realise something was wrong until he was already sucked into whatever dark void this current spirit inhabited. The world around him seemed endless, empty, save for small light spots that glinted bigger at times like small flickering flames. He was hesitant to step forward, or even to look down, not wanting to dispel whatever was keeping him from falling.

One of the flames flickered brighter, Aang watching it swallow the one nearest to it. Then another. Eventually it swallowed Aang too, but unlike the other dreams this wasn't a suffocating light that cut off his air and tried to kill him. It was warm. Kind.

Scared.

The light faded, leaving Aang in a room looking more like the land he was used to. The walls were metal, the floor under his feet solid, packed earth. The air was humid, enough to make Aang swallow several times as he searched in vain for something to stop the dryness at the back of his mouth from spreading.

A puff of air at his back sent him forward, Aang turning to see steam, hot, boiling steam, fill the air. Or, more specifically, the cages.

There were dozens of them. Some were inhabited, some weren't. All of them were suspended, hanging from the ceiling by thick metal chains.

"It wanted to show you something else," came behind him, Aang turning again.

The girl at his back was familiar, but her essence wasn't what he remembered it to be. "Yue?" Sokka had said she'd died.

She smiled at him, "You remember me."

He knew they hadn't exactly talked, or interacted at all to be fair but, "You were Arnook's daughter. Kind of hard to forget a princess."

He got another smile for that. "It's a shame we didn't get to spend more time together."

Her necklace was gone, Aang supposing Yue wouldn't have any need for a betrothal anymore. She was dressed differently too, her clothes seeming to glow. "You said it wanted to show me something else?"

She nodded, face twisting as she looked towards the cages, "The ocean spirit. It's suffered so much Aang."

He saw the people for what they were now, the rags hanging on their wispy bodies just barely recognisable. The dirt, blood encrusted blue, the grey that at one point must have been white. "Water Tribe." Which, Aang wasn't sure. Maybe it was both.

"Waterbenders," Yue corrected. "This is what the Fire Nation did to my people. I never… I was told stories as a child about the raiders in the South, but never were we taught what happened to them afterwards. Whether they were still alive."

Aang didn't know if he would call this alive. Breathing they were certainly doing, but he was sure whatever life had been in them had long escaped their tortured souls. "Why the dreams? Why are they showing me this?" It was probably the only time he was going to get any answers, and while he couldn't tear his eyes off the waterbenders he wasn't going to waste this opportunity presented to him.

"Because the Avatar is meant to bring balance to the world. Both worlds. While they are separate, there are places in your world the spirits have left their mark on. They feel the earth, the trees, just as I see from the moon." A tid bit Aang was going to remember and never do any nightly mischief in the open land ever again. "They're suffering too Aang."

He nodded. He knew that. He had just never thought about it in these terms before. The ocean spirit wanted to show him this, meaning the ocean was connected to the waterbenders. These were, essentially, its children, just like the earth has its earthbenders and fire its firebenders. He wondered, briefly, if there was a spirit left for the airbenders. Did it feel the loss of its children when the Fire Nation cut out the last one?

"So, the message is to help them?"

Yue shook her head, "The message is to look at the consequences of your mistakes. The Avatar is human just like the rest of us, but, unlike the rest of us, he can look back on his past lives to learn about how to act in his future. They aren't trying to hurt you Aang, just warn you."

His mistakes. That made a lot of sense. If it had been a simple matter of helping the spirits then why show him his past lives. More specifically, why show him how he died? The spirits hadn't been sadistic, just figuring out a way to actually tell him what they wanted him to know. He was actually quite thankful they'd sent Yue instead of another route, the idea of looking at more of his mistakes, more things that had happened because he'd made the wrong choice or he'd disappeared at the wrong time made his throat dry out even further.

"I don't suppose you could get them to leave me alone now the message has been received?" Aang asked, mind already spinning about what he needed to think on when he woke.

Yue pursed her lips, "I'm certain they won't bother you too much, but Aang, sometimes there are things you need to know about. Accident or not, the ocean spirit has opened a way between our worlds for you. It's granted you knowledge some of your past lives strove their whole life for. Your dreams I can guard, but if something needs your attention I will let it be seen."

He thought about that for a moment before nodding, "I understand. And I am thankful," Now he knew what these dreams were about, "Just, could they try not to suffocate me? I really don't like waking up to injuries I didn't have when I went to sleep."

Yue nodded, the world around them fading until they were back in that black void. Or, maybe not black. Yue seemed to shine more now she was in her natural domain, wandering the sky easily as she put her stars back in place.

"You really are the moon then?"

"It's not a bad job," Yue said, "A bit lonely. But it's nice to be able to look down and watch the change you're bringing to this world."

He looked down, wondering if he could see some slice of his own world. There was nothing. Aang chalked it up to needing moon powers. "So er, when you say you watch us…?"

She gave him a look that confirmed everything he'd feared. After a moment, once Aang's embarrassment had worn off, Yue said, "Tell Sokka I'm happy for him, won't you."

Aang nodded, "Yeah." He hadn't known they'd even spoke to each other.

"Also," she came a little closer, "As the moon, I'm able to see more than just you Aang, so I'm going to give you some advice. Don't fight. Hear them out."

"Wh-" she gave him a push, Aang waking just before he hit whatever bottom had been waiting for him.

Her words echoed around his head as he sat upright. Or, as he tried to. The moment he was an inch off the ground something was wrapping itself around him, forcing his limbs to stiffen to his side. He would have screamed, but someone stuffed a gag in his mouth, Aang rolling around until his assailants hoisted him up.

Yue's words went around again, Aang wondering just what kind of moon alcohol she'd been drinking if she thought it was a good idea for Aang not to fight. They were probably here to kill him. They'd quietened him for crying out loud.

"We have him," someone said to his back, Aang's neck twisting to see a slither of familiar blue and white before the world went dark once more.

He didn't dream.

When he woke a second time his head was splitting and his limbs were cramped. A bump sent him crashing into whatever wooden contraption was carrying them, almost knocking Aang unconscious again.

Don't fight, Yue had said. Aang was beginning to wish he'd ignored her.

The ride was long, and as soon as whoever had him discovered he was awake Aang found himself knocked out again. If he didn't wake up with some gaps in his knowledge he would be surprised.

As it was, the next time he woke up his surroundings were vastly different from the wooden planks his nose had been pressed against the last time.

For one, he wasn't tied up, and happily moved his arms about. For two, he wasn't alone, Zuko, with his mask removed, was staring dazedly at men Aang vaguely recalled to be the Dai Li?

"Hey," Aang slurred, pushing up to his butt, "Leave him alone." They'd done a number on him. Where Aang had just let fate take him Zuko had put up a fight, The bruises on his shoulders alone told Aang the earth they'd packed Zuko in had been restricting more than just his limbs. His face was a mottle of black and blue, yet here Zuko was, even he no match for, what, twenty, Dai Li that had attacked them in the middle of the night.

They weren't attacking him. In fact, once Aang had been dragged to his feet and swept of any mud or dirt, he saw the Dai Li doing the same to Zuko. "Best behaviour," one of them warned, pushing the two of them in front of them.

They moved through vacant halls, Aang vaguely remembering them. They felt familiar in a way that made him want to boost himself up and take a nap on one of the cabinets.

It was a long walk. Too long for someone who'd been knocked out who knew how many times. It was a challenge just putting one foot in front of the other, and Aang found himself giggling as more than once his feet crossed over so much he almost fell on the nearest Dai Li agent.

"He's gonna kill us," He heard one of the Dai Li said.

"Not if we explain it," another said.

"Just look at them. He said 'be gentle'."

"They're alive aren't they. I'd say that's 'gentle'."

Aang almost fell over again, straightened only by the Dai Li that caught his arm before he hit the floor.

The halls ended up leading to a throne room. All three were occupied when Aang stumbled in. "Hey, it's the dragon," he remembered, the old man hopping up and looking just as old mannish as ever.

"I take it you ran into some complications," the Dragon said, eyes sweeping over Aang.

"Not so much the Avatar but this one," the commander nudged Zuko forward who did fall on his face. Almost immediately the Dai Li were around him, hoisting him back up and generally apologising. "He er, we didn't know he could use swords. You just mentioned the firebending."

The Dragon took Zuko's face in hand, Aang's vision going a little blurry as he heard, "My nephew has always been resourceful. Take them to their rooms commander won't you? I'm sure the healers and a good nights sleep will undo some of the damage you've wrought to these two young souls."

Aang didn't remember much else, just woke to a woman in Fire red bending water over his head. His mind felt clearer, and the aches in his body weren't as bad either. A healer then. Not one he remembered however. But since Aang couldn't really recall everyone he'd passed in the North he assumed she was probably one of the benders brought back from the recent conquering.

"My friend's a waterbender," Aang said.

The waterbender herself nodded, "I've heard. How are you feeling?"

Aang thought about it for a moment, "Like the moon's pissed at me for something."

The bender got her water back on his head for that comment, even if it was true.

"Where are we?" That feeling of familiarity was still thrumming through him. Even this room, if it weren't splashed in different colours he could have sworn he'd know it.

"Omashu," the bender said.

"Ah." that explained it. He tried sitting up, seeing the room he'd explored in his childhood come into focus more now he knew where he was. Yup, there was where Aang used to nap. There was where Bumi used to break down walls when he grew tired of hide and seek. Good times. "Where's… they brought another-"

"The prince is fine," the bender inclined her head behind her to where Zuko, unconscious still, was being tended to by his own waterbender. "He was whacked about a bit more than you." She let the water fall back to her bowl. "If you're feeling better the Dragon of the West has asked you for supper."

Demanded more like, but Aang wasn't one to pass up a free meal even if it was his enemies serving it. "Sure."

He was dressed in clothes fancier than he'd ever been dressed in before. They were light and easily moved in, so Aang didn't fear tripping up in them should he need to scamper before the night was done.

He knew where the dining room was, but the servants in Omashu were so earnest he let them show him anyway, and was rather glad he had since the dining room had changed places since the last time he'd been here. A hundred years, he reminded himself.

Supper was well underway by the time he arrived, the Dragon of the West not looking all that imposing as he made tusks out of chopsticks for the little girl squealing to his left. Really the only serious one there was Lu Ten, his eyes narrowing in on Aang as soon as he stepped foot inside.

He was the first to rise for all his seriousness, Aang surprised at the short bow Lu Ten sent his way. "Avatar," he greeted, the others standing and doing the same.

He bowed back, chancing a small, "Hi." He'd never exactly met them under formal circumstances. This wasn't exactly formal either. What did he even call them? "Thank you for the invitation. Could have asked without the whole, kidnapping thing but, well," he shrugged, he was here now, nothing he could do about it.

The Dragon bowed his head, "I'm afraid that's my fault Avatar. I had told my people to bring you here, I just did not think the means they would go to in order to ensure you got here alive." Which, yeah, it could have been worse. Even if there had been an invitation it wasn't like Aang would have taken it. "Please," he indicated to one of the two empty seats already set up and full of-

"This is vegetarian." He looked to the other plates, finding them full to the brim with Fire Nation delicacies. Most of which were meat based.

"I hope I did not offend you Avatar. I was told the Air Nomads lived off a meat free diet," the Dragon said.

"No, they did, thank you." It could have been poisoned. But, Aang was hungry, and he hadn't had a decent meal in who knew how long at this point.

There was a smattering of silence as Aang took his first bite, broken only by the baby Aang hadn't even noticed grumbling for his mother's attention. Aang made the connection before he even looked at the little girl. This was Ursa. Zuko's mother.

Oh no.

Lu Ten cleared his throat, putting Aang's mental breakdown to the side for now. Something dangled over the roasted pig chicken. "This is yours."

"My necklace." He gladly snatched it out of Lu Ten's hands, finding it in almost pristine condition. It had been rather dingy last time Aang had seen it, dirty from the lack of care and general roughness of sleeping outside. Now the metal gleamed, like Lu Ten had polished it. The ribbon felt softer too, the mud washed out of it.

"An interesting thing," the Dragon said, "My nephew was always a good artist in his youth." and, yeah, Aang could admit the thing supposed to be Appa wasn't the best. In his defence however, he'd never crafted with metal before, it had always been paper and ink.

"Well, it was dark when he made it."

"In that case," The Dragon raised his cup, "Allow me to congratulate you, and formally welcome you to the family."

Right, married. "Er, thanks?" Shouldn't they be trying to kill him?

It was an odd dinner. Aang ate his food trying to find out just what was going on and ending up with even more questions than answers. They seemed to be doing their best not to talk about anything incriminating. In fact, half way through Aang's soup course he found himself being told all about what Zuko was like when he was Kiyi's age.

Just when Ursa had started on the pond Zuko used to love splashing in they heard a series of shouts go off down the hallway. Ursa had her hand on both her children, even the Dragon perched on the edge of his chair, ready to leap up. The only one not on edge was Lu Ten, a small, "He's awake," reminding Aang that Lu Ten had been at the prison when Zuko and Sokka had broke him out. More, when they broke in. Aang still wasn't too sure if Lu Ten had been there the whole time just watching from some secret room.

Aang leaned back in his seat, trying to see if anything was flying down their hallway yet. "You know if you call the guards to retreat he won't end up sending more to the healers."

Lu Ten seemed to agree as he sighed, pushing himself up from his seat and yelling at someone down the hall to stop trying to show Zuko the way and just let him find it on his own.

Either the sound of Lu Ten yelling or the guards running instead of fighting had the hallways calming down. Just as Lu Ten took his seat Zuko, still a little bruised up, Aang sure half of them had just been made, hung his head around the doorway, hands alight with flames.

They stopped just as Aang heard Ursa's chair scraping.

He should have probably told Ursa in the short half hour before Zuko woke that it wouldn't be the reunion she wanted. He maybe, because he honestly didn't know what to make of Zuko's mother, probably should have just told Lu Ten to tell Ursa since Lu Ten, at least, Aang got a reading on. Either way, he hadn't said anything, which meant Aang was there when Zuko noticed the two young ones. He was there when Zuko ran off.

"I should," Aang was stopped from standing by a swift kick to his shin.

"You're our hostage, you're not going anywhere," Lu Ten stood up again, "I'll talk to him. Father don't bore the Avatar to sleep while I'm gone, we still have to talk to him."

"Bore him?" He leaned a little closer to Aang, "I am many things Avatar but a bore I am not. Now how about some tea?"

He remembered the guards warning in Ba Sing Se and nodded his head.

When supper was done, and Aang had been told insistently to call the Dragon Iroh "I hardly have scales," they took tea in a smaller room Aang remembered being a council room when he was younger.

Kiyi rather enjoyed the new room since she didn't have to sit still and eat all her vegetables. So much so Aang found himself being given a tour of sorts as, after she'd finished running around the room, she dragged Aang to every shiny thing she could find.

He had to admit, the shiny things were rather impressive.

"Usually the governor stays here. But I highly suggested he and his family take a short holiday to one of the colonies for a few days," Iroh said, watching them from his seat.

"In my day the king of Omashu lived here. I guess Omashu fell not long after Ba Sing Se." The casual way they walked the halls suggested a few years inhabitation at least.

There was a choking sound, Aang finding Iroh struggling a little with his tea.

Kiyi led him back around to the shiny golden badger mole. "I'm a princess you know," She told him, bringing him back towards her mother. "And if Zuko's a prince, does that make you one too? Uncle Iroh says you're married to him. But grandfather said that's illegal so are you?"

"Kiyi," Iroh grabbed the girl around the waist, blowing on her cheek, "Stop bothering the Avatar. Here, help me lay out my new Jasmine blend."

Aang took a seat next to Ursa, giving baby Zuko a little wave. As much as he didn't like the idea of her naming her son after her older one, he had to admit the kid was cute.

"He's angry with me, isn't he?" Ursa said.

"I mean," Aang nodded towards the baby.

She hefted the baby closer to her, rocking slightly as she said, "He's actually alive."

Aang just, had never understood that, "How did you all think he was dead? What happened?"

Ursa didn't answer, too busy coming to terms with her son's very much not deadness. Which meant it was up to Iroh to say, "It is a long story. Don't worry, you'll hear it before we let you go."

"You're letting me go?" Some good news then. Well, depending on how Iroh defined 'letting go' it could be good news.

Yet, "Oh yes. We need you to call off your army. I'm afraid if we do it, they may think we've done something bad to you and attack anyway."

He didn't understand any of this.

The Jasmine blend was actually pretty good. Kiyi was a good host too, refilling Aang's cup after he so much as took a sip. He ended up waterbending a little flying dolphin for her when his cup almost overflowed. The show got a little round of applause from Iroh too, commending him on his waterbending. "I had feared you wouldn't have much mastery over it. Pakku mentioned you left before he could get onto advanced forms with you."

Pakku? "You've talked with Pakku?"

Iroh nodded, "As soon as he suspected the young man walking through one of the waterbending schools was my nephew we have been in touch. I know Zuko does not like it, but he looks more like his father with every spring." Which meant Pakku had met with Ozai at least once.

Which meant, "He said Pakku wanted a word with him, that he thought he might know who Zuko was."

Iroh nodded. "I didn't believe it at the time. Zuko was dead. But, it appears not everything is how it's often told."

Aang was dying to unravel that one, but Iroh seemed to have a way of leaving Aang with more questions than answers so he held his tongue. For now.

They were in there long enough for the tea to go cold and baby Zuko to finally doze off. Kiyi wasn't far behind him, but she'd managed to hold off long enough for her cousin to come back with big Zuko in tow.

He didn't look happy. Neither of them looked happy actually, but they were here. "He's going to behave," Lu Ten said, taking a seat next to Ursa, leaving the one between his father and Aang free for Zuko. "You'd best talk fast father."

"I'll do my best."

Even then, Lu Ten started to do most of the explaining when it seemed Iroh liked to paint a picture than speak the facts. What Aang learned there he wasn't sure what to make of it. When they were finally free to go to their rooms he felt like he'd been bludgered again with how much he couldn't wrap his head around things.

"So," Aang said into the silence. Zuko was sitting on the edge of their mattress, back to him, he'd been unearthly still the whole night, and while any other time Aang would be dying to know what he was thinking, right now he couldn't even think about his own problems. One thing was for sure however, "We're going to have to call the invasion off."

Zuko hopped up, his movements finally having a purpose, "I'll do it. You stay here."

"But-"

He didn't say anything, just looked at Aang in a way that spoke of leaving the matter alone. Zuko needed this. He needed the time away, and if it hadn't been Zuko's own family here Aang would have been fighting tooth and nail to be the one to go. But it was Zuko's family here, and, Aang also had to admit, maybe Lu Ten would feel better about keeping Aang here than he would Zuko. Aang was security that Zuko would come back, the same couldn't be said yet for the other way around, Lu Ten hadn't witnessed Aang breaking Zuko out of anywhere after all.

So Aang nodded, grabbing Zuko just before he finished tying the last sash on the travelling cloak that had found itself into their new room. "Be careful," Aang told him.

"I should be telling you that." He dipped forward, their lips meeting for a brief moment before Zuko was gone.

The tingles Zuko's kisses still left behind distracted him long enough to make it back to his pillow. Unfortunately that was all, Aang back to working his way through Iroh's proposal once more.

"I suppose I should start from what you know. Or what you don't know Avatar, rumour has it you were frozen for a hundred years."

"More than rumour I'm afraid."

Definitely more than rumour. The world was more unrecognisable the longer Aang lived in it. He wasn't going to lie and say things were great in his day. That the sun was that little bit hotter and the land that little bit greener. The sun was the sun and the land, while it might have been less scorched in his time, had not lost the luster it had and would continue to have for the next hundred years he was sure.

But things were certainly simpler. His world was smaller. He had Gyatso, he had his friends, he had no destiny driving him to near insanity and spirits so desperate for him not to fail they were almost killing him to get their point across.

"Then in a way I am happy you did not have to live through some of the atrocities my people have performed."

He rubbed his hand against his head, the image of this 'happy' family Iroh had first painted seared there. The grandfather, his sons, their children, all of them just a family. People.

"We were always pitted against each other, as sons of ambitious men often are. I had no taste for it, mostly because Ozai took all the fun out of it. He was always a sore loser, tossing my game tables over and burning my curtains."

"He still looks at me like he wants to burn me."

It ran around Aang's head, the bluntness Lu Ten had spoken it. The way Zuko had mumbled almost immediately afterwards, "At least he hasn't." All of them looking at that awful scar on Zuko's face. The scar Aang now had an answer as to how it got there.

Burned by his own father.

What kind of man-

No man, Aang answered, thinking back on Zuko all those months ago, huddled in the Southern Air Temple. Aang had thought his opinion on his family was because of what they'd done to the world, never did he even imagine that it was born of something so hateful.

Iroh started with painting the picture of his family. How they worked. How Iroh was expected to bring honour to their empire and, as Aang had heard from Zuko, telling Aang himself about his dream of conquering the unconquerable Ba Sing Se.

He told Aang about doing the impossible. Of standing there, at the palace steps with the body of the Earth King laid out before him. How powerful he'd felt.

"All of it not long after my precious Lu Ten almost died."

"Father-"

"I don't know what would have happened if, what I would have become, if those men had managed to strike you."

Assassins, sent by Ozai himself. He'd hoped with Lu Ten out of the picture Iroh's lust for battle would be lost, and with no heir Azulon would think the younger son with more talent and two children prime for grooming would be the better option.

"We did not know it was Ozai that sent those men. Not until Zuko went missing."

Until then Iroh had been living in a world where his son had defied death and the spirits were showing him time and again this path was the right one. He'd been unstoppable, taking Omashu next. King Bumi-

His Bumi? Aang still wondered if it was his Bumi. He'd known people to live beyond one hundred before. Bumi could have still been alive. That could have been his friend. His friend Aang hadn't the stomach to ask what happened to him. All Iroh had said was that King Bumi had surrendered. Whether that was by death or negotiation Aang didn't know. Didn't know if he wanted to know.

The rest of the Earth Kingdom was inconsequential to him. Iroh had their cities, if the islands wished to defy him they would soon find themselves out of pocket and starved before the year was up.

They'd pledged their allegiance.

Iroh had been happy. Azulon had been happy.

The only one that wasn't as Ozai.

He didn't accept that the Earth Kingdom had truly surrendered. He said so long as they refused to adhere to the Fire Nation way of life they weren't conquered.

Iroh had thought his brother all talk. Azulon certainly did too.

Then came the comet.

In one day Iroh watched the Earth Kingdom burn and a messenger come from the Royal Palace declaring Prince Zuko dead after a failed Agni Kai.

Ursa's voice came to him. How could she even utter the words, "Zuko had always been toeing the line between life and death. It wasn't so far fetched to believe Ozai finally did it."

Aang didn't think he'd ever wanted to scream at someone as much as he had in that moment. She was Zuko's mother. How dare she let someone who shoved Zuko to the line between life and death so much that it was common knowledge. She was meant to protect him. Hide him. Help him. Not sit idly by and have two more children to replace the one she'd lost.

He took a breath.

Rationally, Aang knew it wasn't as simple as that. He knew marriages weren't always simple, that some were more dominating than others. But the fact she could just sit there and plainly say something like that when her son was sitting right there, alive, without her help, in front of her continued to tear his mind apart.

Well Iroh wasn't so meek.

"There's something humbling about watching the earth burn. In battle we fight men, people, we fight for the right to rule over them. But the land, the land is something different. Watching the grass turn to dust, knowing it would never grow again along with my precious nephew felled at those same hands...I couldn't rescind what I'd done and by the time I realised the consequences of my actions it was too late. There was no Earth Kingdom. Not anymore."

Ozai was responsible for setting up the prisons. He went behind his father's back at first, hiring builders who would later serve in these prisons, and guards from generals that were alike of mind. When Azulon finally got word, the vision he'd dismissed as fantasy before was reality and he, like his son, saw the beauty of it.

"I did my best in the position I was in to make amends. But things are not as simple as they seem."

He spread the word, quietly, underground, that Ba Sing Se harboured benders of all kinds. The generals that came to inspect the conquered unconquerable land were never allowed inside. Only Omashu would Iroh allow his father to have a say in.

It strangely worked.

Ba Sing Se was overcrowded, getting more so by the day, but it was safe.

Iroh didn't really know what to do beyond that. He had the Earth Kingdom, that was true, but word had gotten out that Ozai had sent assassins after Lu Ten, the guards that were always loyal to Iroh back in Caldera smuggling information to him now. His family was fragile as it was, and with Ozai still lusting for power he feared what else might be done to it. He'd killed one child, and almost Iroh's own, selfish as it was, Iroh ended up doing nothing.

Then word had come from the North Pole.

Iroh had proposed a truce. He wanted to meet with Aang's war council on neutral grounds to speak about restoring true harmony back to the world, not this madness his father and brother thought harmony was.

Aang didn't know whether to believe it. What Iroh was saying was too good to be true. If Iroh was to be believed they could have the Dai Li, the Earth army too at their disposal. They would have the firebenders Iroh promised were trustworthy in their fight too.

The problem was that it made sense. Everything Iroh said made sense. Fear would definitely make him stay in Ba Sing Se, and Zuko had told the story of Lu Ten's almost death to him.

Aang wanted to believe him.

But if he did and this ended up with his friends massacred he didn't know how he was supposed to move on.

The problem was that they couldn't just go and carry on like normal, because if Iroh was telling the truth then they were wasting resources and man power that they needed. They had actual generals who knew the ins and outs of the Fire Nation capital. Who had fought wars. Won wars.

But-

He groaned, burrowing his head in his pillow.

His head hurt.

Sleep didn't come that night, and Aang didn't blame it. He didn't know what he would do if Yue decided to have another talk with him on top of the one he'd just gotten from Iroh.

Yue.

She had told him to not fight, to hear them out. If she thought it was a trap, surely she would have told him to run. Or ignore what they told him when he got there. But she hadn't, she'd said not to fight and hear them out.

If she truly could see everything in her moon palace then maybe she'd seen they were sincere. That they truly had been harbouring benders in Ba Sing Se. There were certainly benders in Omashu that weren't solely firebenders.

He didn't know. He really didn't know.

He just hoped Zuko got back to their friends fast so they could figure this out together.

Morning came with Aang raiding the wardrobe. Him and Zuko had been given a different room to the one they'd woke up in being healed the day before. This one was more than spacious. Fit for a prince with the luxuries that came with it. There was a mountain of cushions and pillows that Aang had spent the whole night rating comfiness on. A balcony. Fruit, juicy ripe fruit that Aang had half finished as he looked to see just what Iroh had filled their wardrobe with.

There were robes, mostly. A lot of them were red, and made from materials Aang would think a member of the royal family would wear. Some of them were impractical, looking more for formal things like meetings or balls. Others were like the travelling cloak Zuko had took last night, practical.

Most surprisingly however, were what was hanging up alongside the red robes. He hadn't seen the yellow and orange of the Air Nomads since he'd had to ditch his rags from his last growth spurt. Yet here they were. Bigger. But the detail was right.

Even if this was a trap, Aang had to give Iroh points for the welcome wagon.

He ditched his old clothes as fast as he could shuck them, about to stick his foot in the familiar air nomad clothes when he realised he should probably have a bath first. The last time he'd had one had been… he honestly couldn't remember.

He gave himself a cautious sniff, almost retching at the sweat and blood that lingered on his skin. Urgh, how had they sat next to him last night? How had he not noticed Zuko as bad? Since he had to be. Aang hadn't seen him slip off to a river between their battles and war planning. It wasn't like he did it at night either, the pair of them so tired Aang barely had the strength to sneak a few kisses before he was snoring into Appa's fur. Appa's sticky, stinky fur.

He felt himself pulling another face as he carefully tossed the clothes over one arm. Poking his head out the door he asked the first person that passed where the baths were.

It was strange walking Omashu's palace, and it wasn't until Aang stepped through to the baths that he realised it was because it had doors. Usually the royal family bended the walls open. Looked like the Fire Nation couldn't do that so now there were doors. Or at least a lot of open archways.

"Thanks," Aang said, holding the clothes up to his chin. It probably hadn't been wise to stay undressed the whole walk here but, the thought of putting those dirt encrusted things back on was worth the embarrassed walk he took.

The baths were fire warmed and smelling like those oils Arnook had gifted them in the North. Aang dug around a bit before a few bottles that looked similar, setting them on the edge as he did his best to scrub the first layer of crust off himself.

He decided just as he finished with his face that he was cutting his hair off. He didn't know how Zuko did it, and his was longer. But maintaining it now was a pain, and Aang hadn't been bathing regularly. He didn't like the idea of doing the same when he had an actual routine to go back to. How often did hair even need to be washed?

He didn't know. He didn't want to know. He'd been brought up without it and while it had been helpful when they were doing reconnaissance he was getting tired of hiding.

He tracked another servant down before he started on the rest of his body, using the sharpened blade they brought, with supervision, to get the majority of his head smooth again. It felt like a weight being lifted.

It got better when he slipped into his robes. For the first time in a while Aang felt right again. When he looked into a mirror, which, wow, there was a lot of in this palace, he didn't see a stranger anymore. He saw Aang.

If anyone had anything to say about his tattoos being blatantly on display when he got out they kept it to themselves. The servants kept their eyes on their work and none of them tried to stop him as he worked his way around the palace.

He'd thought he'd have an armed guard. Someone to make sure he wasn't wandering places he wasn't allowed. But so far no one had come chasing after him. He supposed this could be Iroh's way of 'trusting' Aang. Of helping to bridge this alliance he wanted between them.

Whatever it was, it let Aang familiarise himself with all the changes the governor had made to his childhood friends home.

"Avatar," he heard when he stepped foot in the gardens. He turned, expecting Lu Ten to drag him back inside. He didn't, and instead stepped in time with him towards the first of the ponds that littered Omashu. "I had hoped to speak with you today. I would have come by earlier but I wasn't sure how late you slept in."

"Usually not that late. Zuko gets up with the sun. It's kind of hard to sleep when he's barking at Momo to keep quiet as he looks for breakfast." Momo liked it best when Zuko fetched him his breakfast too. Despite being capable of hunting, Momo liked to feel included, and since Zuko was first one up, it was up to him to see to Momo's demands before he went off to do his forms.

"Right," Lu Ten nodded, a small frown on his face. It was gone as quickly as it came however, Lu Ten turning to the matter of why he was here. "I take it my cousin has left?"

He nodded, "Almost as soon as we got back to the room. I think he needs some space." Some time away from all this craziness and betrayal. "I think if it had just been you and your father maybe he would have stayed," and then Aang could have went to go fetch Appa and the rest of their friends and actually have a proper second opinion instead of being left to his own thoughts.

"Truthfully we never expected Aunt Ursa to be here when we made our move. But, with Uncle Ozai in the north it's only a matter of time before he sends for her. Travelling somewhere so cold so soon we feared might not be so good for the baby's health."

Which was a fair point. "Did she know?"

Lu Ten shook his head, "We weren't even sure. Not until the Dai Li brought Zuko in yesterday. We didn't want to tell her in case it wasn't…" He sighed, "You have to understand this has been hard for us Avatar. I know what we've done has been beyond awful but family is still family."

Aang understood. If nothing else he believed they were happy Zuko was alive. Last night none of them could take their eyes off him. He saw more than once Ursa's hands go white in baby Zuko's blanket, stopping herself from reaching across and touching what she had to think might be a spectre before her. "He's been well. And I think he's been missing your uncle. He always quotes Iroh to me."

To that Lu Ten snorted, a sound most unprincely in Aang's opinion. But then, he didn't think he'd ever actually met a 'proper' prince in his life. Lu Ten certainly wasn't. Aang could tell beneath that scary exterior was a heart probably as soft as Zuko's.

Maybe Aang was reading into things. He'd only known the guy for a number of hours, and before that he'd been scared stiff of the guy. But he'd seen the way Lu Ten had made faces at his little cousin the night before. Usually when Iroh was telling a long winded part of his story and Kiyi was shifting so much she was seconds away from bouncing back to the golden badgermole. Maybe even monsters could be nice sometimes.

Lu Ten gathered himself again, looking all proper as he changed the subject from his father. "I actually came here to inquire about your training. I know you have some firebending youth in your army, but the spies I have said they've went to the South Pole to help rebuild. My cousin has been teaching you hasn't he?" Lu Ten guessed.

Aang shrugged, "As much as he can. Which is actually a lot. I mean, I'm no master, but the control he's teaching me is something I don't think I would have learned from anyone else."

"Breath control?"

Aang shrugged again, "Just control in general really. I think he forces himself to figure it out." And if all else failed he'd spy on the firebenders practicing and tell Aang when he got back that they were trying out a new technique until they got it right.

Lu Ten didn't look disappointed in his cousin's creativity. "Still, I think you would benefit from some formal, structured lessons as well. Which is why I would like to ask if you would have me as your teacher."

"You-" huh. So that's what this had been leading up to. "May I think about it?" Since he didn't know if they were even going to stick around once Suki and Sokka learned about this whole truce thing.

"Of course."

With that out the way Lu Ten played host to Aang the rest of his walk around the gardens. Aang took note of some of the subtle, but pointed, comments Lu Ten would throw his way. How Zuko had always liked that kind of flower last he'd seen him. How the turtleducks had been imported from the Fire Nation capital itself to add a little bit of home to this foreign city. How Zuko maybe had a favourite turtleduck back at the Royal Palace that Lu Ten had personally held a funeral for when she'd passed on a few months after Zuko's own passing.

"I think it's… that one. No, that one," Lu Ten pointed to two turtleducks wiggling their butts over to them. "Yeah that one. The baby had this little spot on its neck that was bald. Azula burned the poor thing when she grabbed it."

Azula.

Zuko's sister.

They hadn't spoken about her last night. To be honest Aang hadn't thought about asking about her. There was too much to even take in to remember that, even when Iroh was telling them about Ozai making plans to go North, that they hadn't spoken Azula's name.

Ty Lee hadn't known what to say. She'd just said her letters had gone unanswered, and despite her sister being married to Lu Ten Aang wasn't sure whether she would be kept in the loop or not when it came to matters of the inner royal family.

He let Lu Ten point out more ducks. The others of Zuko's favourite's babies, and when they started back the way he came he asked, "Where is Azula?"

Aang didn't know what emotion to describe the way Lu Ten looked but he was pale and looked to be near fleeing when he said, "With her husband."

"So she is married off then," Aang said. Zuko had always feared it. He actually thought it better that Azula was off in the North. Yet Ozai had done it.

Or, "It's complicated."

"How can a marriage be complicated?" The way he saw it the marriage made sense. Azula was a princess. She was of marrying age. She had a duty to her nation despite her family fearing it that she had to marry at some point. Just like Zuko would have had to marry too. Or, Aang supposed he was. If accidentally.

"With Azula everything is complicated." They stopped, Lu Ten motioning Aang to sit on the lone stone bench overlooking the next pond. "I was going to tell Zuko the next time we saw each other. But," Lu Ten knew. He knew Zuko might not come back. Yet he'd still let his cousin go. "You'll tell him at least."

"Is Azula okay?" Aang demanded, not liking the tone the conversation had taken.

Lu Ten bit his lip, "It depends on your definition of okay." His hands went inside his robes, "Father wanted to believe the best in uncle Ozai. They were brothers, and sometimes it's hard to believe someone you grew up with can be so vastly different from yourself. So, even after he got the news about Zuko, he thought perhaps it wasn't as bad as it had been told. People died all the time in Agni Kai's. Zuko was thirteen in his first one, sixteen at his second. We heard the damage from the first had left him a little," Lu Ten made a few motions to his head, "It's why he wasn't allowed in public."

Aang didn't know this part of the story. "But I thought-" He didn't know actually. Zuko didn't talk much about his past. Ty Lee was even briefer. She talked about Azula like it had only been a few years, but Zuko, yeah, now that he thought about it, the stories she told him didn't sound like the actions a fourteen, fifteen year old would make. So, what, had they just cooped him up? Locked him in his room? Who Agni Kai-ed a thirteen year old in the first place?

"He wrote to us. And Aunt Ursa always said he was doing fine when she and Azula visited. Azula always seemed a little off when we asked her though. I don't think even she realised the Agni Kai bothered her." So at least Aang wasn't the only one who thought fighting a thirteen year old was pure evil. Lu Ten certainly curled his lip when speaking about it too. "Then Zuko… died and, if Aunt Ursa thought he was dead then the rest of the world did too. Azula… I don't know. Uncle Ozai was always nicer to her, but, his definition of nice isn't really nice at all. I think she finally realised how fragile her place was. Or, something just broke since she just, she's not the same. There was something off about her. Last time she was here she challenged me to an Agni Kai for second in line to the throne. She didn't really give me an out and with Uncle Ozai there."

Aang could just imagine it. Of course Ozai would use his daughter to worm his way higher up the hierarchy. He could rule through Azula if he played his cards right. Maybe orchestrate a few more 'accidents' in the royal family. So long as he had the security of second in line who knew what he might have done.

"I won. And the next thing we knew Azula had been quietly married off to one of Ozai's generals." A separate army. Aang learned the members of the royal family had a small contingent loyal to only them. Guards, generals, people that would get things done for them. Like build prisons. "We tried to write. I know Ty Lee and Mai did, but the letters stopped coming back. Last we heard Uncle Ozai said she was expecting a child."

It was worse than Aang thought. "I don't get it. How did their mom not know any of this? How could she just-"

Lu Ten looked just as lost as he did. "I guess they were keeping the pregnancy quiet. Kiyi's. There were rumours she snuck out to Ember Island for a few weeks, that the baby might not be my uncles. I thought she was maybe kept with Zuko-"

"Zuko didn't even know Kiyi existed," Aang told him because Zuko hadn't. "He found out not even a year ago. And the year before that he was on the streets stealing before I found him." Then he maybe stole some more because Aang wasn't always good at getting them money, but hey, Lu Ten didn't need to know that. "I don't blame you." He didn't. Lu Ten seemed to be a good guy, and honestly, Aang would have kept his distance from someone as crazy as Ozai too. "But his mom should have done more."

"That we can agree with." He didn't look to have a lot of sympathy for Ursa when Aang checked. "My father thinks she's delicate. I think she's just as bad as Ozai, the only difference is where he wants power she wants freedom. I think she'd do anything to get it." There was a story there, one Aang wanted to know, but didn't think he had the capacity to listen right about now. Plans were being made in his head. Ones that refused to allow him to think about anything else.

Lu Ten sniggered, looking anything but happy as he clapped Aang jovially on the shoulder, "Some family you've married into huh?"

Aang choked a laugh out back, "Certainly different."

He sent the first kind smile Aang had seen on him his way after a moment, "Zuko's always had a good heart. If you had to end up with anyone I'm kind of glad it's him."

"Even with the whole," he motioned to himself.

Another laugh, this one genuine. "The only people who actually care about that stupid old law are sitting in the capital city. Besides, you're the Avatar, you used to be a woman in your past life, I'm pretty sure those laws don't apply to you."

Interesting.

They finally made it out of the gardens, Lu Ten making Aang promise to think on his offer of learning firebending. The walk back through the maze of rooms wasn't as bad as it was before. He felt more sure of himself. More purposeful. He finally knew what he was going to do next.

Before, with this whole taking back the Earth Kingdom, he'd been letting other people do the hard work for him. Make decisions for him, deliver orders. He was always just there for them to use, and he knew he wasn't the best at plans or leading, but he'd always felt like there was more he could be doing. That he was just that little bit inconsequential. Like they could have been doing this without him, which, with Suki and Sokka in charge, they kind of had been.

But now, even if Iroh was lying, he had an idea of how to make himself useful again.

It was like a sign from the spirits themselves when he stumbled into his room and found the gift Iroh left leaned against his bed post.

A glider. Much like the one Aang had back at his camp, but the wood was newer and material that little bit thicker. Specially made.

He took it after writing a quick note, sending one of the servants to deliver it with Iroh's evening meal as he went further into the palace where he'd been told the royal quarters were.

His purpose there didn't take long, and before Aang knew it he was dipping through the streets of Omashu and out through the sewers.

It took hours of gliding before he saw the small army already docked a few miles away from Omashu's port. Landing, he called an emergency meeting, stating before they could ask that, "I'm leaving."

"What!" Sokka barked, face still heavy with war paint. "You finally escape and you're leaving? Aang we're about to invade a city."

"No, you're not," he made sure everyone was aware how serious he was. "Iroh called a truce, and you're going to hear him out. If he violates any part of his terms then you attack. But until then you're going to stand there and listen."

"Aang-" Katara tried.

"We have a chance to have the entire Earth Army at our disposal. I could be wrong. But if I'm not and we turn our backs on this opportunity- an opportunity to use actual members of the Fire Nation royal family as well- then we're idiots." They had to know taking Omashu wouldn't be like taking an island. Omashu was a city, and they didn't have the manpower between them to rule over a city, the islands and plot to overthrow Ba Sing Se. They just didn't. They could try, and they certainly were going to before Aang had been taken, but this was worth a try too. It certainly saved them time. "Look, Yue told me to hear Iroh out and I did. I'm not saying I believe him, and I'm not saying he's not trying to use us, but if we manage to stay one step ahead of him, if we plan this carefully, we don't have to lose anymore men until we need to."

There was silence around him, a few, like Hakoda and Suki, sharing a look. Katara was the first one to pipe up when Aang's words sunk in, "You said Yue like the chief's daughter?"

"Yeah she's the moon." Oh he almost forgot, "She says she's happy for you Sokka. Suki's a great girl."

Sokka looked like he was going to be sick, his hands visibly shaking as he tucked them under his arms. "If Yue says hear them out, we should hear them out," Sokka nodded.

"Are you serious?" Suki snapped.

He let them fight, turning to Katara, "I trust you to look after everything until I get back okay."

"We could be about to fight for our lives," Katara said.

Aang shrugged, "Or you're about to go into some serious peace talks. All I know is that I've got other things to do. Things that I think are going to help us."

She didn't look happy, but the thing about Katara was that she had so much faith in his title of the Avatar that she merely hugged him instead of begging him to stay, "You'll send for help if you need it right?"

"'Course I will." He hugged her right back. "Take care of Toph for me will you? I don't trust her around new people." New breakable people who probably wouldn't take too kindly to the little goblin throwing rocks at them for fun. She was quite possibly the worst best general he'd ever had. Even now she wasn't in their peace talks because it infringed upon her pre battle beauty sleep. "Oh and I'm taking Zuko."

He dragged his hooded idiot as soon as he saw him breach the treeline. The good thing about gliding was that it shaved off a good few hours of travel time, meaning Aang got to the campsite before him.

"Here," Aang tossed him his mask, ignoring the incredulous wide eyes in favour of tying the last of Appa's hay in tight on his saddle. "I packed some sweets. Managed to steal them from the palace for you. Your mom said you liked treacle so I nabbed some of that too."

"Right," The mask slid into place, looking once towards where the others were still arguing, voices rising higher and higher with every man and woman who thought they needed an opinion, then back to Aang. "We're leaving?"

Aang nodded, patting the empty space beside him on Appa. "I left Momo with Sokka," it would be too dangerous for the little guy where they were going. "And Toph with Katara. We should be on Ember Island in about a week."

"Ember Island?" came muffled as Zuko climbed into his seat.

"Your sister. Your mom told me where she is, and we're going to get her."

He knew Ursa knew more than she was telling people. Lu Ten was right, she wasn't innocent in all this. She hadn't even bothered trying to negotiate with Aang when he'd asked her before he left, just told him to not take Zuko with him. Like he'd listen to her.

"She's alive."

"And pregnant."

He could just imagine Zuko's look of horror. Truthfully Aang felt the same. Azula had to be, what, just sixteen? A mentally fragile sixteen year old about to have a baby. It didn't bare thinking about.

"We're making another few stops after that as well. Hopefully it'll give you some time to catch up with her."

"Where?"

Aang told him everything. About Azula. About his mother. About the dream Yue had shown him of the waterbenders suspended in cages.

They hadn't been dead, the whole thing was a prison, and the thing about prisons were that very rarely did they execute the workforce. Which meant there were benders, water, earth, who knew what else, somewhere out there, and Aang was going to find them.

End of Part 1


End file.
